Three former Tory MPs, including Jonathan Gullis, defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform
A source from Nigel Farage’s party has confirmed that three former Conservative MPs have joined Reform.
Jonathan Gullis, who represents Stoke-on-Trent North, Lia Nici, who stands as Grimsby MP, and former Bolton West Tory MP Chris Green attended “of their own volition online”, a Reform Party source told PA.
Mr Gullis is a former deputy leader of the Conservative Party and education minister.
He is currently the mayor of Kidsgrove.
He told the BBC he had been a member of the party for 18 years but believed the party had “lost touch with the people it was supposed to serve”.
“From failing to control immigration, both legal and illegal, to pursuing a net zero agenda that has caused a rise in our home energy bills and put jobs in Stoke-on-Trent’s world-famous ceramics industry at risk, the Conservative Party has understandably lost the trust of the British public,” Mr Gullis told the broadcaster.
The three departures are the first since East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger left the Conservative Party for Reform in September.
A Reform party source said: “The Conservative Party is dead. Only Reform can beat Labor at the next election, as polls have repeatedly shown.”
Luke Shenton was the first Reform councilor elected to Stoke-on-Trent City Council following a by-election in May.
“Jonathan’s decision to join us has been a huge boost locally for Reform UK,” Mr Shenton told the BBC.
“The people of Stoke-on-Trent deserve better than this failed Labor government.
“Together we will fight for the hard-working people of Stoke-on-Trent and build a real alternative to this tired political order.”
In 2024, Ms Nici launched a blistering attack on then prime minister Rishi Sunak, saying Boris Johnson lacked charm and praising the Reformation.
Ms Nici told Sky’s: “To be honest, I’m probably more Reform than most Reform candidates.” Policy Center With Sophy Ridge.
He added: “I get called a rebel all the time but that’s because most people in Grimsby think the same way I do, so I hold our government to account for that.
“Reform has many ideas that local people like, but are they a fully formed political party? No, they are not.”
