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2 hours ago
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The MP Danny Kruger has defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK, declaring the Tory party “is over” and Nigel Farage is the “new custodian” of conservatism and the political right’s “last hope” of governing Britain.
Kruger, who represents East Wiltshire and previously served as political secretary to Boris Johnson, said: “The Conservative party is over. Over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left.”
His defection comes weeks after the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said Tories who “want to jump ship” to Reform UK are “welcome to do so”.
In a statement announcing his switch, Kruger accused the Tories of clinging to “defunct institutions”, and said they have been operating under “sham unity” since their general election defeat last year which has left them in “stasis”.
He said: “We on the right of politics face a choice. To embrace the change that is happening or to go down to a deserved demise. To follow the flame of conservatism as it passes to a new torch or to stand still and get darker and colder and more pointless.
“To be conservative is not to worship the ashes of defunct institutions. It is to preserve the fire that gives our country its life. The new custodian of that fire, the best hope we have, maybe our last hope, and I fervently hope the next prime minister, is Nigel Farage.”
The defection is the first from a sitting MP since Reform’s surge in the polls this summer. Standing alongside the Reform leader, Kruger said the party was now “getting serious as a government in waiting”.
Kruger is the son of Prue Leith, a restaurateur, television presenter, cookery writer and novelist. The Eton-educated MP rejected claims his background meant he didn’t understand the concerns of working-class voters unhappy with the system.
He has been appointed Reform UK’s head of “preparing for government” and stressed all of their plans going forward would be fully costed.
Kruger distanced himself from remarks he made in the Commons that Reform UK will “spend money like drunken sailors”. Kruger told the Guardian he has rejected Reform UK’s welfare policies, adding Farage had since committed to welfare reform. The Reform leader said his party will be hosting a press conference next week to address the numbers.
Kruger said: “What we are doing today is announcing a process of getting serious as a government in waiting. We are not being arrogant, certainly not hubristic about the expectation of winning. We are ahead in the polls, it doesn’t mean it is going to stay that way.
“We are not predicting victory. But we are anticipating victory, and we are doing the responsible thing, as Nigel said earlier, of ensuring that if we are fortunate enough to win the support of the public, we will be ready with a plan.”
Kruger said he had “no idea” whether other Conservative MPs were in talks with Reform about defecting, but added he hoped his former colleagues “follow me”.
Farage, responding, said: “We keep everything under wraps. When we have negotiations, nothing leaks. None of you had a clue that Danny would be joining us today and that is how we operate.”
Asked how damaging the defection was to her leadership, Badenoch went on the defensive. She told broadcasters: “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 sorts of incidents.
“I know that this is the sort of thing that is going to happen while a party is changing. I am making sure that people understand what Conservative values are.”
Responding to Kruger’s defection, Labour said Farage was now “tied more closely” to the Tory “record of failure”.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Every Conservative who defects to Reform ties Nigel Farage more closely to their record of failure. Nigel Farage can recruit as many failed Tories as he likes, it won’t change the fact that he has no plan for Britain.
“The Tories crashed our economy and left public services crumbling. Britain deserves better than Reform’s Tory tribute act that would leave working people paying a very high price. Only this Labour government is driving forwards delivery to make working people better off and give our country the renewal it needs.”
