‘Tory defectors tell us Britain is broken – but they are the culprits’
Suella Braverman becomes the latest Tory MP to jump ship and join Reform UK. Does her defection damage the Conservatives – or is it Nigel Farage who should be worried?
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In brief…
- Suella Braverman, part of the previous Tory government from 2015-2024, says Britain is “weak and humiliated” as she quits to join Reform UK.
- The News Agents say Braverman brings the “stench” of the former government with her, in the same way recent defections from long-serving MPs such as Robert Jenrick and Nadhim Zahawi did.
- The growing number of defections is a “double-edged sword” for Reform – with those joining from an unpopular party, but seemingly winning the race to become the voice of right-wing politics in the UK.
What’s the story?
Suella Braverman is the latest Tory to jump ship and join Reform UK – but does her defection come with a bang, or a whimper?
The former Home Secretary – forced to resign by Liz Truss, and later sacked by Rishi Sunak – follows Robert Jenrick and Nadhim Zahawi in recently departing the Conservatives. Braverman served as part of the Tory government for nine years.
"Britain is suffering, she is not well," Braverman said, announcing her defection.
"Our nation stands weak and humiliated on the world stage."
Emily Maitlis says that as Braverman stood "slagging off Britain's brokenness", she's going to have one hell of a surprise when she finds out who broke it.
"It's a bit like falling into a disused canal, getting out, sitting on a bench, saying 'Oh my God, this stinks', and moving to another bench," Emily says.
"You brought the stench. You're bringing it with you."
Suella's speech, like those delivered by Jenrick and Nadhim Zahawi, addressed the problems facing Britain – but Lewis Goodall says all three did so with a total lack of accountability.
"The defectors are presenting us with a diagnosis that Britain is broken, and there is one clear set of culprits as to how we got to this place," Lewis says.
What now separates Reform 2026 with the Tories 2024?
Every defection is a headline, and every headline is more attention for Nigel Farage and his right-wing political movement.
But is there a downside of scooping up MPs who were part of the previous 14-year Tory government, which Emily says may now appear as a "dustbin for former Conservatives".
Lewis says each and every high-profile defection so far has been "problematic".
"Why are they defecting? What actually separates them intellectually, from Kemi Badenoch's Conservative Party?" Lewis asks.
"In the past defections happened during a parliament when the party itself has profoundly changed.
"I have not heard an adequate explanation from either Jenrick or Braverman exactly what it is about the Conservative Party that they now find so objectionable, other than saying that the Tory brand has become so broken and tarnished that it cannot be a credible vehicle to oppose Keir Starmer."
That, he adds, is a "pretty flimsy" reason for switching party allegiance.
"It doesn't grapple with the question of who broke the Conservative Party brand," he adds.
"Well, it was you, and now you're going to this new vehicle and saying, you're going to be different – but without grappling with what went wrong in the first place.”
How big a blow is this to Kemi Badenoch and the Tories?
Badenoch stole Jenrick's thunder when he defected to Reform – reportedly after leaving his resignation letter on a photocopier inside Tory HQ.
There was no such carelessness from Braverman, but does her departure impact the party, which describes her as “very unhappy” in a statement.
"I don't think it inflicts the damage Jenrick's defection did, because she was, in many ways, already very detached from the Conservative Party," says Lewis.
"She did not enjoy a significant following within the Tory Party."
Emily says, like Jenrick, this presents Badenoch with an opportunity to frame the situation as a "clearing out of the closet" for the MPs closely associated with the previous 14 years of Tory government.
What Braverman's defection means for Reform
Lewis Goodall describes Braverman's move to Reform as a "double-edged sword" for the hard-right party.
While it may be tougher for Nigel Farage to present himself as an "anti-system" option for British voters with so many MPs who were, until very recently, part of the system – there is a more pressing battle taking place here.
That, Lewis believes, is for survival.
"It is a battle to speak on behalf of the right in British politics," he says.
“Therefore, if Reform is trying to say it is the new Conservative Party, the right of British politics, then it isn't such a bad thing to have a stream of former senior Conservatives coming to you.
“You're sending a message to right-of-centre voters across the country that Reform is the live, credible force on the right, and the Tory party is dead – and that seems to be the strategy that Farage is alighting upon."