In a significant blow to the Conservative Party, MP Andrew Rosindell has announced his defection to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. The Romford MP, who previously served as a shadow minister for foreign affairs, cited the Conservative Party’s position on the Chagos Islands as his primary reason for the switch.
Rosindell stated that a “clear red line” for him was “the failure of the Conservative Party both when in government and more recently in opposition to actively hold the government to account on the issue of Chagossian self-determination and the defence of British sovereignty.” He argued that Reform UK is “the only political movement that is genuinely willing to fight for the best interests of the United Kingdom,” claiming the Tories were “irreparably bound to the mistakes of previous governments and unwilling to take meaningful accountability for the poor decisions” they had made.
The defection comes just days after former Conservative MP Robert Jenrick quit the party to join Farage’s ranks, launching a scathing attack on his former colleagues. Jenrick accused the Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch of failing to change after their 2024 election defeat, arguing that the country now needs Nigel Farage.
In response to Rosindell’s announcement, Farage welcomed the new addition to the Reform UK team, stating that “Andrew is a great patriot” and that the Tories’ “lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him over the edge.”
The Conservative Party, meanwhile, has sought to downplay the significance of the defection, with a senior Tory source telling The Independent that “Nigel is welcome to him. In 25 years in parliament Rosindell has never troubled the scorers.”
However, the party is reportedly concerned about the prospect of further defections, with figures inside the party now convinced that former Home Secretary Suella Braverman could be the next to jump ship to Reform UK.
As the political landscape continues to shift, the impact of these high-profile defections on the upcoming elections and the future of the Conservative Party remains to be seen.
