Three former Tory MPs defect to Farage’s Reform

One says he believes the Conservative Party has ‘lost touch with the people it was meant to serve’

Three former Conservative MPs have defected to Reform, a source in Nigel Farage’s party has confirmed.

Jonathan Gullis, who represented Stoke-on-Trent North, Lia Nici, who served as the MP for Grimsby, and the former Bolton West MP Chris Green have all joined “on their own accord online”, a Reform party source confirmed to PA.

Mr Gullis is a former Conservative Party deputy chair and was briefly an education minister. He is currently the mayor of Kidsgrove.

He told the BBC that he had been a member of the party for 18 years, but believes it has “lost touch with the people it was meant to serve”.

“From failing to control both legal and illegal migration to pursuing a net zero agenda that has seen a rise in our household energy bills and put jobs in Stoke-on-Trent’s world-famous ceramics sector at risk, the Conservative Party has understandably lost the trust of the British people,” Mr Gullis said in a statement to the broadcaster.

Jonathan Gullis is a former deputy chair of the Conservative Party (PA)

The three defections follow that of Danny Kruger, the sitting MP for East Wiltshire, who left the Tories for Reform in September.

A Reform party source said: “The Conservative Party is dead. Only Reform can beat Labour at the next election, as the polls show time and time again.”

Luke Shenton was the first Reform councillor elected to Stoke-on-Trent City Council following a by-election in May.

“Jonathan’s decision to join us is a huge boost for Reform UK locally,” Mr Shenton told the BBC. “The people of Stoke-on-Trent deserve better than this failing Labour government.

“Together, we’ll fight for the hardworking people of Stoke-on-Trent, and build a real alternative to this tired political establishment.”

Tory MP Lia Nici has defected to Reform (Parliament)

In 2024, Ms Nici launched a blistering attack on the then prime minister Rishi Sunak, saying he lacked the appeal of Boris Johnson, and praised Reform.

“I’m probably more Reform than most Reform candidates, to be honest,” Ms Nici told Sky’s Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.

She added: “I’m constantly called a rebel, but that’s because most people in Grimsby think in a similar way to me. So I hold our government to account on that. Reform have got a lot of ideas that people locally do like, but are they a fully formed political party? No, they’re not.”