Ex-Tory chairman Jake Berry defects to Reform UK

Former Conservative MP and party chairman Sir Jake Berry has announced he is defecting to Reform UK.

Writing in the Sun, Sir Jake said: "Old Westminster politics has failed. But theres a better way."

He said he was backing Reform UK "because Ive always believed that change comes with challenging the old order. In shaking up the system when it isnt working".

In response to his defection, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: "If people who want more welfare and higher taxes and more spend, they are very welcome to go to those parties that are offering that."

Taking questions after a speech on the benefits system, she said: "There are a lot of people who come into politics just to play the game of politics, and they will follow polls and defect wherever they can, like they do in banana republics, to wherever they think that they can win.

"We have to do more than win. We have to be ready with a plan."

Sir Jake becomes the second former Conservative Cabinet minister to announce his decision to join Nigel Farages party this week. On Monday, ex-Welsh Secretary Sir David Jones announced he had left the Conservatives for Reform UK earlier this year.

Sir Jake is the fourth former Conservative MP to switch to Reform in the last two weeks, after Sir David, Ross Thomson and Anne Marie Morris.

Sir Jake represented the Lancashire constituency of Rossendale and Darwen from 2010 until 2024, when he lost his seat to Labour.

During his time in Parliament he was a close ally of Boris Johnson and served in several positions including in the Cabinet Office and as Northern Powerhouse minister.

He was appointed as the Conservative Party chairman by Liz Truss during her brief tenure as prime minister.

In a statement announcing his decision, Sir Jake was heavily critical of both his old party and Labour.

"For 25 years, I was proud to call myself a Conservative - 14 of those years, I served as an MP. I even sat at the Cabinet table twice. I believed in it. I gave it everything.

"But lets not kid ourselves. Britain is broken. It didnt start with Labour. The Conservative governments I was part of share the blame.

"We now have a tax system that punishes hard work and ambition. Just this week, we saw record numbers of our brightest and best people leaving Britain because they cant see a future here. At the same time, our benefits system is pulling in the worlds poor with no plan for integration and no control over who comes in."

Privately, both Reform and the Conservatives are hinting there might be more defections to come.

Senior Conservatives have accused Reform of gaining ex-MPs while losing current ones.

Since last years general election, two of Reforms MPs have left the party, Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock.

However, Sir Jakes defection underscores Reforms growing political momentum - a trend highlighted by Labours increasing focus on the party, shifting attention away from the Conservatives.

Responding to the defection, a Labour spokesperson said: "Not content with taking advice from Liz Truss, Nigel Farage has now tempted her Tory Party chairman into his ranks.

"Its clear Farage wants Liz Trusss reckless economics, which crashed our economy and sent mortgages spiralling, to be Reforms blueprint for Britain."

Tim Montgomerie - another Conservative backer who switched to Reform - told the BBCs Newsnight programme that Sir Jake was "one of the most efficient organisers in the Conservative Party - exactly what my new party needs".

"It is not the most well-organised party at the moment," he added.

He said there would be "bigger" defections to come that would "rock the Conservative Party".