Former Conservative MP and party chairman Sir Jake Berry has announced he is defecting to Reform UK.
Sir Jake said: “Old Westminster politics has failed. But there’s a better way.”
He said he was backing Reform UK “because I’ve always believed that change comes with challenging the old order. In shaking up the system when it isn’t working”.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We wish Jake well in his new high spend, high tax party.”
He added: “Reform support increasing the benefits bill by removing the two-child cap, and nationalising British industry.
“By contrast the Conservatives, under new leadership, will keep making the case for sound money, lower taxes and bringing the welfare bill under control.”
Sir Jake becomes the second former Conservative Cabinet minister to announce his decision to join Nigel Farage’s party this week. On Monday, ex-Welsh Secretary Sir David Jones announced he had left the Conservatives for Reform UK earlier this year.
Sir Jake is the fourth former Conservative MP to switch to Reform in the last two weeks, after Sir David, Ross Thomson and Anne Marie Morris.
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.
