The former Tory minister Maria Caulfield who is a full-time nurse working for the NHS has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
Caulfield is now the 13th former Conservative and on Monday Danny Kruger who is a sitting MP defected to Reform in a major blow to the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Caulfield told GB News, “If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform. The country is going to change a lot.
“The same people who thought that Brexit would not happen think that Reform will not happen. They are in for a shock.”
She revealed that a month ago she defected to Reform UK after her husband left to join Farage’s party.
She said, “I have joined. My husband joined a few months ago and I joined a month ago.
“The [Reform] party needs a lot of experience of people who know the system and can talk about this.
She added, “I am sad for the Conservative Party. I could see that I have not changed but the party has become less and less what I believe in.
“We let people down over what Brexit meant on laws, money and borders. We took back control but we did not do anything about it.
“Reform is about changing the system – they won’t change unless they do it differently.”
At a press conference Kruger said on Monday he will help Reform to prepare for government and he described his defection as “personally painful” and warned the Tory Party is “over.”
Kruger said, “We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial and the result is in the polls.
“And those voters aren’t coming back, and every day, more and more people are joining them in deserting the party that has failed.”
He is urging other Tories to defect to Reform, he said, “I would hope that colleagues who share my view about the crisis the country is in and the opportunity that Reform offers to save our country.”
However, he acknowledged he has “no idea” if other Conservative MPs are in discussions to defect to Nigel Farage’s party.
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