Suella Braverman did not slip quietly out of the Conservative Party. She left with an accusation of “betrayal” and a sense of theatrical finality, likening her defection to Reform UK to a political divorce. After nearly a decade as a Conservative MP and a turbulent spell at the heart of government, the former home secretary has become the latest and most high-profile Tory to cross Nigel Farage’s threshold.
Announcing her defection at a press conference, Braverman said she had felt “politically homeless for the best part of two years”, citing deep differences with the Conservative leadership over Brexit, immigration and taxation. Her move follows the recent departures of Robert Jenrick and Andrew Rosindell, reinforcing Reform’s claim to be the new home of Britain’s right.
The Conservative Party responded sharply, with a spokesperson saying it was “always a matter of when, not if” Braverman would defect. An initial statement controversially referred to efforts made to support her mental health, a line later withdrawn after being described as a draft “sent out in error”. Braverman dismissed the reference as “pathetic”, calling it further evidence of a “bitter and desperate party in free-fall”.
Describing her decision to leave, Braverman likened the process to “a divorce”, marked by a gradual erosion of trust and affiliation. She accused the Conservatives of failing to deliver on Brexit, presiding over “out-of-control immigration”, and imposing high taxes. She said the “final straw” was what she described as a concerted effort to marginalise right-wing voices within the party, urging local Conservative activists in Fareham and Waterlooville to join her at Reform.
Nigel Farage said he had been in discussions with Braverman for over a year and argued her defection reflected a wider realignment on the centre-right. While describing her record as home secretary as “utterly useless”, Farage said she was now willing to admit past failures, particularly on immigration, which he blamed on the constraints of the European Convention on Human Rights. Braverman, for her part, said the Conservatives’ pledge to leave the ECHR had been “a lie”.
Braverman’s move comes amid a broader reshaping of the right. Reform has surged as immigration has dominated political debate, but Farage has insisted the party will not become “Conservative Party 2.0”, warning that defectors must publicly accept that the last Tory government “broke the country”. He has also said no further MPs will be accepted after local elections on 7 May.
Despite Reform’s momentum, the Conservatives’ decline may not be terminal. Immigration, the issue that has powered Reform’s rise, may fade as net migration falls and visa restrictions tighten. At the same time, economic concerns are set to intensify, with household income growth forecast to stagnate and tax rises looming. Polling consistently shows voters still trust the Conservatives more than Labour on managing the economy.
Following Jenrick’s defection, Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, told Asian Voice, “In the short term, Badenoch's supposed decisiveness over Jenrick (although it's difficult to imagine another leader doing anything different, to be honest!) has probably given her a boost in the eyes of her own party - even if Rosindell's subsequent defection has rather taken the shine off that.
“In the long term, the decision of some Tory MPs to Reform is likely to help Nigel Farage in his quest to persuade Reform-curious Tory voters to take a punt on a party that, so far anyway, has been a bit of a one man band with no governmental experience and positioned on the fringe rather than in the mainstream of British politics.”
For Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, the challenge is focus. Cultural battles have dominated so far, but shedding defectors associated with past failures could allow the party to reassert a clearer, pro-business and fiscally responsible identity. If the next election is fought on economic competence rather than immigration outrage, the Conservatives’ current crisis may yet contain the seeds of a comeback—even as Reform claims the spotlight for now.
