Following her high-profile defection to Reform UK, Suella Braverman has once again become a central figure in Britain’s political conversation. But who exactly is she?
Originally elected in December 2019 as a Conservative MP for Fareham, Braverman’s time in Parliament has certainly been controversial. Her defection to Reform UK on the 26th January 2026 marks the most high-profile parliamentary defection in the party’s history, a move that unfortunately attracted negative attention both for its symbolism and for what it implies regarding the Conservative Party’s continuing difficulty retaining those further right within the party, especially after Jenrick’s earlier defection in January.
Braverman’s background however is starkly divergent from the caricature often drawn by her critics. Born in Harrow, she trained as a barrister after graduating from reading Law at Cambridge, and built much of her early career in public law, later serving as Attorney General under Boris Johnson before her appointment as Home Secretary. Prior to her rise within frontline politics, she cultivated a reputation grounded in constitutional law and legal orthodoxy, enabling her to utilise that experience to provide institutional credibility to her positions on crime, borders, and the rule of law. Although, as Home Secretary, Braverman failed to rectify the issue of illegal immigration, in part due to weak policy, in part due to the Supreme Court consistently blocking her from pursuing legislation such as the Rwanda Act due to clauses being in contradiction to the ECHR and HRA.
Whilst still a Tory, Braverman became openly critical of the party’s record, arguing that it had abandoned both electoral promises and ideological clarity, thus preluding her eventual and highly anticipated defection to Reform. Interestingly, despite being the daughter of immigrants herself, Braverman has consistently adopted one of the hardest lines on immigration in modern British politics, not unlike that of Enoch Powell, as critics have consistently implied. As Home Secretary, she argued that multiculturalism had “failed” and repeatedly called for radical reductions in legal and illegal migration alike, placing her in direct conflict with both the liberal wing of her own party and the metropolitan political establishment. These positions, while condemned by left-wing opponents as inflammatory, further entrenched her reputation among supporters as a politician willing to prioritise public safety over reputation, quite admirable indeed.
This defection is unlike any previous. Perhaps Jenrick was well-known and prominent within the Shadow Cabinet, but he never served in one of the highest offices in Britain, as Braverman has done. It could easily be argued that Braverman was one of the most disastrous Home Secretaries of the 21st century, considering both her deranged rhetoric and liability to implement it into legislation. It’s undeniable to the Reform UK party that she is somewhat of a liability, but a helpful one at that. Perhaps after Labour’s disastrous time in government, Conservative failures will be forgotten about, and Braverman’s tainted past won’t impede Reform from manipulating her prior record into one of competence and coherence, if that’s by any means possible.
For the Conservative Party, her defection isn’t fully fatal. After all, Braverman was quietly in the backbenches under Badenoch’s tenure of leader, much dissimilar to Jenrick’s prominence within the current state of the party. Her defection was expected, as her husband previously admitted his commitment to voting Reform in the next general election, and in light of much praise from Jenrick at a speech made at a Reform event after his defection. Disappointingly, Conservative rhetoric after her defection was rather offensive, citing her mental health as the cause behind her defection, a reaction that could be perceived as derogatory. Shortly after, the Conservatives retracted this statement, but their attack certainly seems to be misplaced and odd. After Jenrick’s defection, no comments of such nature were made, perhaps implying that the Conservative Party does still have some misogyny rooted within, unfortunately.
Ultimately, Suella Braverman is an interesting attempt by Reform UK to become not just the party of protest voters, but also experienced politicians with undeniable authority on national policy. Her move from senior Conservative minister to Reform’s eighth MP reflects both the party’s strategic ambitions at a parliamentary level and the accelerating fragmentation of the Conservative right, therefore implying that Reform has become the party of the hard right, filling a hole that Thatcher left after New Labour came into power, forcing centrism into the policy of both major parties.
Whether her defection marks the beginning of Reform’s transformation into a governing-credible party or merely another flashpoint in its insurgent trajectory remains to be seen. For a party keen to transcend its outsider status, Braverman represents both an opportunity, and a risk. Whether Reform will benefit from elevating its most polarising defector yet is uncertain, but it is a gamble Nigel Farage has clearly decided is worth taking.
Picture credit: Reform UK
