The MP for Romford, Andrew Rosindell, has become the second Conservative MP to defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party this week after the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said that she was “100 per cent confident” that there would be no further defections from her cabinet.
The move comes after shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick’s defection on Thursday, and brings the number of Reform UK MPs to seven.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph earlier, Farage said that Reform was “not a rescue charity for every panicky Tory MP” and that anyone joining would have to admit publicly that the Tories “broke the country”.
In a lengthy post on X on Sunday night, Rosindell said he had decided to resign from his position as a shadow foreign office minister in Kemi Badenoch’s frontbench and as a member of the Conservative Party.
He wrote: “Since joining the Conservative Party at the age of 14, I have been a loyal and committed supporter of the principles advocated by Margaret Thatcher that have always underpinned my own political beliefs.
“However, the time has come to put country before party.
“The failure of the Conservative Party, both when in government and more recently in opposition to actively hold the government to account on the issue of Chagossian self-determination and the defence of British sovereignty, represents a clear red line for me.”
He said he believed the Tories were “irreparably bound to the mistakes of previous governments and unwilling to take meaningful accountability for the poor decisions” they made.
He said he spoke to Farage on Sunday evening and agreed to join his party.
He added: “It is clear to me that Reform UK is now the only political movement that is genuinely willing to fight for the best interests of the United Kingdom.
“The views and concerns of the majority of the British people must no longer be sidelined.
“Our country has endured a generation of managed decline. Radical action is now required to reverse the damaging decisions of the past and to forge a new course for Britain – one that firmly places the interests of the British people first.”
In a statement on Sunday evening, Farage said: “Andrew is a great patriot. The Tories’ lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him over the edge, and we are delighted to welcome him to our ranks.
“He will be a great addition to our team ahead of the elections on May 7th.”
Reform have set May 7 – the date of local elections in which they hope to make significant gains – as a cut-off point for admitting current and former MPs, as well as for local councillors to defect.
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Kemi Badenoch said in recent days that she was “100 per cent confident” she would not see any more of her shadow cabinet leave for Reform.
Asked if she would be on alert for MPs seeking to switch sides before the elections, Badenoch told the Press Association: “I think people should be wondering why they set that deadline.
“Perhaps they’re worried that they’re not going to get anyone anymore.”
Reform UK politician Robert Jenrick, the former shadow justice secretary who defected from the Tories on Thursday, said Andrew Rosindell was “a great champion of Romford, a true patriot and now Reform MP”.
However, Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: “The stench of a failed and dying Tory party now engulfs Reform.
“The Conservatives left public services on their knees, and Nigel Farage is now unconditionally trying to rehabilitate their disastrous record.
“The public won’t be fooled: the Tories failed Britain and Reform want to do it all over again.”
With additional reporting from agencies
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