On Wednesday [9th July] last week, Jake Berry became the latest Tory to turn turquoise and join Reform.
He follows in the footsteps of hundreds of Conservative councillors, and, more recently, a sprinkling of former Parliamentarians. But Berry’s defection has raised more eyebrows than those who have gone before him.
Firstly, Sir Jake, at least in politico circles, carries more name recognition than any defector to date. Once a Remainer, once a Net Zero devotee, once (briefly) a Party Chairman – if Berry can come to the decision that Reform can get his political career back on track then reason indicates that almost the entire Tory party could follow him.
Writing in The Sun, Berry outlined his reasons – migration, taxes, and the ballooning benefits bill.
He claimed: “[T]he truth is, the Conservatives have lost their way. They’ve abandoned their principles. They’ve abandoned the British people.”
The defection was the second to hit the Tories last week, and the fourth in a fortnight.
Sir David Jones, a former Welsh Secretary, stated on Monday last week that he had joined Reform earlier this year, and former MPs Ross Thomson and Anne Marie Morris also recently left the Conservatives for Nigel Farage’s party.
In his article, Berry slammed Labour as well as his former party, saying: “Old Westminster politics has failed.”
Rising Through The Ranks
Berry started his political career in 2010 when he was elected to represent Rossendale and Darwen – a constituency in Lancashire. He won in 2010 with 41 per cent of the vote and continued to represent this constituency until 2024, when he was defeated by a Labour candidate.
It wasn’t long after entering Parliament that Jake Berry obtained his first Government role. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary for Grant Schapps during his time at the Housing and Local Government Ministry and in 2013 was appointed to advise David Cameron on housing, regional growth and local government.
Under Theresa May, Berry ascended to a succession of senior positions. He served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth following the 2017 election, and his rise continued when Boris Johnson promoted him to Minister of State and appointed him to the Privy Council.
This series of promotions was curbed when he refused a move to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and instead resigned from government during the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle.
His return to government came in 2022 with Liz Truss’s election, when he joined the cabinet as Chairman of the Conservative Party. This tenure only lasted a mere 49 days, until the demise of the Truss premiership. Following those heights, Berry remained a backbencher.
Berry was a firm ally of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson throughout his career. Like Truss, he opposed Brexit during the referendum campaign and like Truss he subsequently underwent a Damascene Brexiteer conversion. In 2018 he claimed he “would now vote for Brexit”.
What Does This Mean for Reform?
A YouGov MRP poll recently indicated that Reform would be the largest party in Parliament had a general election taken place last month. According to the poll, Reform would have won in 271 seats. Labour would have won 179, and the Conservatives 46.
With Reform leading in many polls, winning a landslide in May’s local elections and attracting an ever-growing number of Tory defectors – evidence is mounting that they, not the Conservatives, are the main threat to Labour’s election chances.
How About The Conservatives?
Responding to Berry’s switch to Reform, Kemi Badenoch has accused defectors of behaving “like they do in banana republics”.
Nigel Farage has claimed that more defections are yet to come. Badenoch said those thinking of defecting were welcome to leave: “All of the people who are not interested in coming up with a proper policy plan and just want to jump ship are welcome to do so, because when the time comes at the next general election, the public are going to be looking for a serious, credible alternative.”
The difficulty for Badenoch and her party is remaining a “serious, credible alternative” when high-profile figures start to defect to Reform, and attempt to discredit their former party in the process. Badenoch must find an answer to the question – if people in her own party think Reform are the best means of removing this Labour Government, why should the public not think the same?
