Eight Conservatives have switched to Reform UK since 2024, they are:
- Lee Anderson in March 2024
Lee Anderson jumped ship to Reform UK, becoming the party’s first MP, after he lost the Conservative whip in February 2024.
He had made widely criticised remarks about Sir Sadiq Khan, claiming “Islamists” had “got control” of the mayor and London.
The Ashfield MP was made Reform UK chief whip after he won the seat he had held for the Conservatives since 2019 for the party in 2024.
- Andrea Jenkyns in November 2024
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the Reform UK mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, left the Tory party in November 2024.
She had served as Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire from 2015 until the 2024 general election, when the constituency was abolished.
Appointed assistant whip under the Johnson administration in September 2021, she was made a Department for Education minister in July 2022.
When she made the move, she said the Tory party had “become tired”.
- Nadine Dorries in September 2025
The former Conservative culture secretary declared her former party “dead” when she defected to Reform UK.
Announcing her decision in September, she said: “My decision to leave the party I’ve served for more than 30 years is possibly the most difficult I’ve ever had to make, and it has taken me 12 agonising months to reach.”
- Jake Berry in September 2025
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.
- Danny Kruger in September 2025
In September, Danny Kruger became the first sitting Conservative MP to defect to Mr Farage’s party.
The East Wiltshire MP was a member of Kemi Badenoch’s shadow front bench when he jumped ship.
He condemned his former party as “over” when he left, adding: “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.”
- Jonathan Gullis in December 2025
In March 2024, he was appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, replacing Luke Hall who had been appointed Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education.
In May 2025, ten months after losing his seat, Gullis was appointed as Mayor of Kidsgrove for a one year term.
- Nadhim Zahawi in January 2026
The former Conservative chancellor, who led the Conservative government’s vaccine programme in the early days of the pandemic, joined Reform UK on Monday.
An ex-MP and minister, Mr Zahawi was sacked as Conservative Party chairman in 2023 after he was found to have breached the ministerial code over his tax affairs, later confirming he paid a nearly £5 million penalty to HMRC to settle the issue.
In a video message announcing his defection, he said Britain is “drinking at the last chance saloon” and “really does need Nigel Farage as prime minister”.
- Robert Jenrick in January 2026
The Newark MP, who served as immigration minister in Rishi Sunak’s government, blasted the party he has been a member of for nearly 30 years as he defected to Reform UK on Thursday.
He won his seat in a 2013 by-election after sitting Conservative MP Patrick Mercer resigned following a scandal over paid advocacy.
Announcing his move at a Westminster press conference, Mr Jenrick said: “I can’t kid myself any more.
“The (Conservative) party hasn’t changed and it won’t.”