List of Conservative Party defections to Reform UK

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This is a list of defections from the British Conservative Party to Reform UK including sitting Shadow Cabinet members, former Members of Parliament (MPs) and backbenches.

Sitting MPs

Danny Kruger, the first sitting Conservative MP to defect straight from the Conservatives to Reform UK.

The following are MPs who defected while sitting as a MP in the House of Commoms.

Shadow Cabinet

• Robert Jenrick (defected 15 January 2026) – Shadow Secretary of State for Justice (November 2024 to January 2026) ^{[1] [2]}
• Danny Kruger (defected 15 September 2025) – Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions (November 2024 to September 2025) ^{[3] [4] [2]}

Backbenchers

• 

  Lee Anderson, first Reform MP, Anderson was an Independent MP when he joined, after having the Conservative Whip suspended for remarks about London Mayor Sadiq Khan that the Conservative Party deemed Islamophobic.

  Lee Anderson (joined March 2024) – Elected in 2019 as a member of the Conservative Party, but joined Reform in March 2024 after becoming an Independent after having the whip suspended for remarks about London Mayor Sadiq Khan that the Conservative Party deemed Islamophobic. He was re-elected as a MP at the 2024 general election for Reform UK, and appointed as the Chief Whip of Reform UK in the House of Commons on 11 July 2024. ^{[5] [2]}

Former MPs

The following are MPs who defected after their term as MP in the House of Commons ended.

Former Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet Ministers

Secretaries of State

• Nadhim Zahawi (defected 12 January 2026) – Former Chancellor of the Exchequer (July - September 2022), and MP for Stratford-on-Avon (2010–2024) ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [2]}
• Nadine Dorries – Former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2021–2022) and MP for Mid Bedfordshire (2005– 2023) ^{[5] [2]}
• David Jones (defected 7 July 2025) – Former Secretary of State for Wales (2012–2014), Minister of State for Exiting the European Union (2016–2017), and MP for Clwyd West (2005–2024) ^{[5] [2]}

Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, and Ministers of State

• Lia Nici (defected 1 December 2025) – Former Assistant Government Whip (September–October 2022) and MP for Great Grimsby (2019–2024) ^{[5] [2]}
• Jonathan Gullis (defected 1 December 2025) – Former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for School Standards (September–October 2022, and MP for Stoke-on-Trent North (2019–2024) ^{[5] [2]}
• Dame Andrea Jenkyns (defected 28 November 2024) – Former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills from (July–October 2022) and MP for Morley and Outwood, ^{[5] [2]} elected as the first Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire in 2025 for Reform, becoming one of Reform's first two elected mayors, alongside Luke Campbell, who was elected concurrently as the inaugural Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire. ^[10]
• Sir Jake Berry (defected 9 July 2025) – Former Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio (6 September–25 October 2022), Minister of State for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth (2017–2020), and MP for Rossendale and Darwen ^{[5] [2]}
• Adam Holloway (defected 30 July 2025) – Former Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury (September–October 2022) and Former MP for Gravesham (2005–2024) ^{[5] [2]}

Former Backbenchers

• Ben Bradley (defected December 2025) – Former MP for Mansfield (2017–2024) ^[5]
• Chris Green (defected 1 December 2025) – Former MP for Bolton West (2015–2024) ^{[5] [2]}
• Sarah Atherton (defected 2 October 2025) – Former MP for Wrexham (2019–2024) ^{[5] [2]}
• Maria Caulfield (defected 16 September 2025) – Former MP for Lewes (2015–2024) ^{[5] [2]}
• Anne Marie Morris (defected 2 July 2025) – Former MP for Newton Abbot ^{[5] [2]}
• Ross Thomson (defected 24 June 2025) – Former MP for Aberdeen South ^{[5] [2]}
• Alan Amos (defected 3 April 2025) – Former MP for Hexham (1987–1992) ^[5]
• Marco Longhi (defected 3 January 2025) – Former MP for Dudley North ^{[5] [2]}
• Aidan Burley (defected 10 December 2024) – Former MP for Cannock Chase ^{[5] [2]}
• Lucy Allan (defected May 2024) – Former MP for Telford (2015–2014) ^{[11] [12] [5]}

Malcolm Ian Offord, Baron Offord of Garvel defected to Reform in December 2025, becoming the first Reform Peer in the House of Lords. He was appointed by Nigel Farage as Reform's Scottish Leader in January 2026.

Peers in the House of Lords

The following are Peers who defected while sitting in the House of Lords.

• Malcolm Ian Offord, Baron Offord of Garvel (defeated 6 December 2025) – appointed Life Peer on the 13 October 2021 while a member of the Conservative Party by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. ^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} After defecting to Reform on the 6 December 2025, he was appointed by Reform Leader Nigel Farage as Leader of Reform UK Scotland on 15 January 2026, and he is set to resign from the Lords on 30 January 2026 due to his intention to run in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. ^{[16] [17] [2]}

Members of the Scottish Parliament

The following are Member of the Scottish Parliament who have defected to Reform while sitting in the Parliament.

• Michelle Ballantyne (joined January 2021) - On the 24th November 2020, Ballantyne quit the Scottish Conservatives to sit as an independent MSP, citing differences on policies and principles with the party and its new leader Douglas Ross. ^{[18] [19] [20]} Ballantyne joined Reform UK in January 2021, and was appointed as the first Leader of Reform UK Scotland. ^[21] Ballantyne lost her seat in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, ^[22] and resigned as Reform's Scottish Leader on the 16th Feburary 2022. ^{[23] [24]}
• Graham Simpson (defected 27th August 2025) - Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland (2016 - current) ^{[25] [26]}

Members of the Senedd

The following are Members of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament who have defected to Reform while sitting in the Parliament.

• Laura Anne Jones (defected 22nd July 2025) - Member of the Senedd for South Wales East (2003 - 2007; 2020 - current), and Monmouthshire County Councillor for Wyesham ward (2017 - 2022) ^{[27] [28]}

References

1. "Robert Jenrick joins Reform UK after being sacked by Conservatives - Live Reporting". BBC News . 15 January 2026. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
2. Menendez, Elisa (15 January 2026). "All the former Tories who have defected to Reform UK". ITV News . Retrieved 17 January 2026.
3. Kruger, Danny (15 September 2025). "The Tories are done, the voters aren't coming back" . The Times. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025.
4. "Conservative MP Danny Kruger defects to Reform UK". BBC News. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
5. Culbertson, Alix (13 January 2026). "Who are all the former Conservative MPs who have defected to Reform?". Sky News . Archived from the original on 14 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
6. "Politics latest: Former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform UK". Sky News. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
7. McKiernan, Jennifer; Zeffman, Henry (12 January 2026). "Former Tory Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform UK". BBC News . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
8. Eastlake, Daisy (15 January 2026). "Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform UK". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
9. Eastlake, Daisy (15 January 2026). "Nadhim Zahawi 'begged for peerage' before defecting to Reform, claim Tories". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
10. "Reform wins two new mayoral contests as ex-boxer clinches Hull and East Yorkshire". Sky News. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
11. "MP suspended after endorsing Reform UK candidate". BBC. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
12. Parsley, David (29 May 2024). "Ex-Tory MP in talks to stand for Reform after she was suspended by Conservatives". inews.co.uk.
13. "Lord Offord of Garvel". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
14. Webster, Laura (13 October 2021). "New Scotland Office minister Malcolm Offord given official Lords title". The National. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
15. Matchett, Connor (30 September 2021). "Unelected millionaire dogged by 'cronyism' accusations given peerage and Scottish ministerial role by UK Government". www.scotsman.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
16. Woodson-Cane, Nicole (6 December 2025). "Millionaire Tory donor made a peer by Boris Johnson defects to Reform UK". The Independent. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
17. Page, Mark; Spence, Andrew (2 May 2025). "Hull and East Yorkshire mayoral election LIVE: Luke Campbell wins". Hull Live. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
18. "MSP Michelle Ballantyne quits Scottish Tories". BBC News. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
19. "Conservative MSP Graham Simpson defects to Reform". BBC News. 27 August 2025. Retrieved 17 January 2026. The defection means Simpson becomes Reform's sole current MSP. Michelle Ballantyne sat as a Reform member at the Scottish Parliament from January to May 2021, having left the Conservatives the previous year and sitting for a short spell as an independent. She lost her seat at the May 2021 election.
20. Scott, Kevin (27 August 2025). "Graham Simpson: Who is Scotland's only Reform MSP?". STV News. Retrieved 17 January 2026. [Graham] Simpson becomes the second ever Reform UK MSP – following former Tory MSP Michelle Ballantyne's defection in the last parliamentary session before Farage became party leader.
21. "Former Tory MSP to lead Scots wing of rebranded Brexit Party". BBC News. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
22. "Small parties and independents big losers in Scottish elections". The National. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
23. Garton-Crosbie, Abbi (16 February 2022). "Reform Party: Michelle Ballantyne quits as Scottish leader". The National. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
24. Rodger, Hannah (16 February 2022). "Leader of Scotland's Reform UK party Michelle Ballantyne quits after a year". The Herald. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
25. Williams, Craig (August 2025). "Conservative MSP Graham Simpson defects to Reform". BBC News. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
26. Scott, Kevin (27 August 2025). "Graham Simpson: Who is Scotland's only Reform MSP?". STV News.
27. Price, Emily (22 July 2025). "Tory MS Defects to Reform UK". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
28. Madden, Richard (2 May 2025). "Reform's Luke Campbell elected East Yorkshire mayor". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2025.