Danny Kruger has defected from the Conservatives to Reform and has been put in charge of preparations for government, in a major coup for Nigel Farage’s insurgent party.
At an event on Monday morning, the East Wiltshire MP announced that his former party “is over”.
This is the first time that a sitting MP has defected to Farage’s party in this Parliament, bringing the total number of Reform MPs back up to five – after losing Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock.
Farage said that the former Conservative MP is taking on an “enormous responsibility” within Reform.
In his speech announcing the defection, Kruger said that while there are “good and decent people” in the Tory party, and that the move is “personally painful”.
“There have been moments where I have been very proud to belong to the Tory party,” he said, highlighting Brexit and Boris Johnson’s 2019 majority as highlights.
“But those were exceptions to the rule. The rule of our time in office was failure. Bigger government, social decline, low wages, high taxes, and less of what ordinary people actually wanted.”
He added: “Britain is not broken, but it is badly damaged. And so, in this crisis, something has got to give.”
Conservative party is ‘over’
In reference to his former party, Kruger said “those lost voters aren’t coming back”, and that “the Conservative party is over as a national party”.
Kruger managed Robert Jenrick’s campaign for the Conservative leadership in 2024, but the former immigration minister ultimately lost out to Kemi Badenoch.
He was among the guests invited to JD Vance’s barbecue in the Cotswolds earlier this summer, alongside Reform UK supporter and Christian academic Dr James Orr and Strictly contender Tom Skinner.
He has also played a leading role in opposition to the assisted dying bill, which is passing through parliament and has faced criticism over amendments and the terms of debate.