Reform UK has secured its first defection from a sitting Conservative MP as Danny Kruger joined Nigel Farage’s party.
The East Wiltshire MP has joined Reform to head up its preparations for government, becoming the latest in a series of high-profile former ministers to join the party and taking the number of Reform MPs to five.
Mr Kruger said there is a “crisis in the economy, crisis at the border, crisis in our streets and a crisis in our military”.
He said Britain “is not broken, but it is badly damaged” and that “something has got to give”.
Asked about the defection of Kruger, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the party “is not going to get blown off course by these sorts of incidents”.
The defection represents a huge crisis for Ms Badenoch’s beleaguered leadership of the party, with Mr Kruger previously seen as hugely influential.
Ironically, Mr Kruger had been working with a fledgling unit which was being set up within the Tories to tackle Reform. He was founder of the New Conservatives and had also run Robert Jenrick’s leadership campaign.
Mr Kruger is unlikely to be the last Tory MP to defect in the coming weeks, with at least one of his former colleagues privately telling The Independent that they may switch too.
This month, Nadine Dorries became the biggest Tory defector to Reform, declaring that the Conservative Party is “dead”. Former MPs, including Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Marco Longhi, and former Tory chair Sir Jake Berry, were among the most high-profile defectors.
Mr Kruger said he hoped the Conservatives would learn lessons from their general election defeat last July, but lashed out at “a year of stasis… and sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial”.
Mr Kruger has been outspoken about his views on subjects including assisted death, women’s right to bodily autonomy and the role of marriage in society.
At a 2023 National Conservatism conference, he stated that marriage between men and women was “the only basis for a safe and successful society”.
His mother, Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, has spoken about how she is frequently attacked on social media for her son’s views.
Tory Teesside mayor Lord Ben Houchen expressed his disappointment at Mr Kruger’s defection.
He said: “I like Danny. He’s a good man. Principled and clear in his convictions. Sad to see.”
Mr Kruger faced immediate calls to force a by-election after his defection, with a local Conservative association saying “his constituents deserve the opportunity to choose their MP based on the party they stood for at election – not one they’ve opted to switch to mid-term”.
Brian Burchfield, chairman of the Melksham and Devizes Conservative association, said: “As the former representative for the Devizes area, we are deeply disappointed to learn that Danny Kruger MP has chosen to join Reform UK – a privately-run party that appears more focused on private interest than public service, while advocating for increased welfare spending and higher taxes.
“If, as Mr Kruger claims, “the results are in the polls”, then we would urge him to do the right thing: resign his seat and trigger a by-election.”
Mr Kruger indicated that he would not hold a by-election, insisting that he will continue to represent his constituents in the same way despite having switched parties.
