Andrew Rosindell quits Tories and defects to Reform UK
Andrew Rosundall resigned from the Conservative Party and defected to Reform England.
The former shadow minister and Romford MP said the Conservative Party was “irreparably committed to the mistakes of previous governments” and was unwilling to take “meaningful responsibility” for bad decisions.
He said he spoke to Nigel Farage on Sunday evening before agreeing to join his party. The Reform UK leader described him as a “great patriot” who “will be a great addition to our team”.
Rosundall’s move comes after Robert Jenrick joined Reform on Thursday, hours after he was sacked from the shadow cabinet by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused him of plotting to defect.
In a statement about X, Rosundall said that “the views and concerns of voters like mine in Romford have been consistently ignored for too long.”
“Our country has experienced a decline that has been managed for a generation,” he added. “Radical action is now needed to reverse the damaging decisions of the past and chart a new path for Britain.”
Rosundall said he joined the Conservative Party when he was 14, serving as shadow foreign secretary before resigning.
Quoting the Labor Party government’s words Decision to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and “the failure of the Conservative Party to actively hold the government to account on the issue, both while in government and more recently in opposition” as part of the reason for his departure.
“Both the government and the opposition have been complicit in the surrender of these sovereign British territories to a foreign power,” he said.
Farage said: “The Conservatives’ lies and hypocrisy about the Chagos Islands betrayal have brought him to the brink and we are delighted to welcome him into our ranks.”
Responding to the departure, Labor leader Anna Turley said: “The stench of the failing and dying Conservative Party is now engulfing Reform”.
“Nigel Farage is now unconditionally trying to improve their disastrous record,” he added. “The public will not be fooled: the Conservatives have failed in Britain and Reformation wants to do it again.”
Rosundall becomes Reform’s seventh MP and the third Conservative MP to join the party, after Danny Kruger and Jenrick.
Nearly 20 former Tory MPs switched to Reform UK last week, including former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
One Press conference announcing departure to ReformJenrick said the Conservatives had “broken” the country and “betrayed their voters” by Britain’s “decline”.
He later told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the country needed a “new and exciting” leader who was “not part of this failed consensus”.
Badenoch said it was a “good day” for the Conservatives and that Jenrick was “Nigel Farage’s problem now”.
