Conservative MP Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK, becoming the first sitting Tory MP to make the move.
Kruger has been a member of the Conservative Party for 20 years and an MP since 2019.
He was previously shadow work and pensions minister under current party leader Kemi Badenoch.
The East Wiltshire MP announced the decision in a press conference today [September 15] sitting alongside Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
He said: “There have been moments when I have been very proud to belong to the Tory party”, before adding: “The rule of our time in office was failure.
“Bigger government, social decline, lower wages, higher taxes and less of what ordinary people actually wanted.
“This is my tragic conclusion, the Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left.”
Addressing the rise in Reform UK’s popularity and subsequent decrease in the Conservative’s, Kruger said: “I don’t accept that I’m simply jumping ship to save my skin.”
“The fact is I feel nothing changes when governments change, at the moment… My view now is the best hope for conservatism and for the country is Nigel’s Reform party.”
Kruger mentioned he still had “great regard” for Badenoch, however the Conservative party is “not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial.”
Responding to the defection, Badenoch said: “Danny has made his case very clear, that this is not about me.
“I can’t be distracted by that, and I’m not going to get blown off course by these sort of incidents.
“I know this is the sort of thing that is going to happen while a party is changing. I’m making sure people understand what Conservative values are.”
Kruger joins Lee Anderson in Reform, another MP who recently defected to the new party.
Anderson was previously in the Conservative Party but became an independent MP before joining Reform last year.
Scottish Conservative MSP Graham Simpson defected last month with similar reasoning, saying: “Too many people feel let down and ignored [in Scotland], they feel the system is against them, that the traditional parties don’t even care about them”.
“I’ve joined Reform because we have the chance to create something new, exciting and lasting, that puts the needs of people over the system.”
“Scotland needs fresh thinking, new ideas, and I hope to be at the heart of helping Reform shape that offer.”
Reform UK now has five MPs in Parliament, surpassing the Green Party’s four. Graham Simpson is the party’s only MSP.
Feature image credit: House of Commons
