Former Tory home secretary Suella Braverman defects to Reform
Former home secretary Suella Braverman has become the latest former Tory right-winger to defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform.
Ms Braverman, once a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership, has joined ally Robert Jenrick in switching parties after months of speculation.
A rare visitor to parliament in the last few months, he was introduced as the party’s eighth MP at a Reform rally for veterans in London.
He said: “Today I am announcing that I am resigning as a member of the Conservative Party and after 30 years of membership in the party. And I am joining Reform UK because I believe with all my heart and soul that a better future is possible for us.”
The former home secretary, who told the crowd he felt like he was “coming home”, launched a series of attacks on the Conservative Party and government, repeating Reform’s claim that “Britain is truly torn apart”.
“Immigration is out of control. Our public services are collapsing. People don’t feel safe,” he said.
“Our young people are leaving the country for a better future elsewhere. We cannot even defend ourselves, and our nation is weak and humiliated on the world stage. So we are at a crossroads.
“We can either continue on this path of controlled decline towards weakness and submission. Or we can fix our country, take back our power, rediscover our power.
Turning to his former party, he accused the Conservatives of being “spineless” and said he was “making time for the betrayal of the Conservative Party”.
“As my friend Robert Jenrick has identified, this is the great tragedy of the Conservative Party. Great speeches, beautiful slogans. But when the cameras are off, the doors are closed and they’re sitting behind that desk making tough decisions for the country, they give up,” Ms Badenoch said.
“When faced with difficulty, they run away. No courage, no backbone, no determination.
“I give time to Tory betrayal. I give time to Tory lies. I give time to a party that makes promises with no intention of keeping them,” he added.
Responding to the news, a senior Tory source said “nobody was particularly surprised”, while another added: “He hadn’t been to Westminster much anyway so it’s not a huge loss.”
Meanwhile, Labor said Nigel Farage, when he was home secretary two years ago, described Ms Braverman as “absolutely pathetic” on immigration and stopping small boats.
He said of his speech as Home Secretary: “This was the most disappointing speech we could have expected from a so-called hardliner.”
In July last year, Zia Yusuf, a senior member of the Reform leadership, launched a personal attack on Ms Braverman and Mr Jenrick.
He posted on Minister of Internal Affairs: Suella Braverman. Immigration Minister: Robert Jenrick.”
Speculation that Ms Braverman would join Reform had been rife since her husband Rael became a member last year, but things calmed down after the party’s former chairman, Zia Yusuf, made a series of highly personal attacks against her that resulted in Mr Braverman leaving the party in protest.
A Conservative source claimed: “Suella could have joined Reform sooner but Rael’s status was clearly a sticking point because they would have to allow him to rejoin the party too.”
The departure follows months of speculation about his status within the Conservative Party.
Following Mr Jenrick’s sudden departure, Ms Braverman was named on a watchlist of 11 Tory MPs suspected of considering a switch to Reform, party sources said. Independent They were “100 percent sure” he would jump ship.
Ms Braverman, MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, was a controversial home secretary under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak amid the small boat crisis and was criticized for language describing immigrants as “invaders”.
He was sacked by both Truss and Sunak at different times and also made an unsuccessful leadership bid following the departure of Boris Johnson in 2022. When the Conservatives were humiliated in the 2024 election, their former allies backed Mr Jenrick in his leadership bid, resulting in Mr Jenrick’s defeat by Ms Badenoch.
