A Tortured Football Analogy
I’m halfway through another article that is taking an awful lot of time to research, but I had to break off and drop in on this latest announcement from Reform UK, in their ongoing quest to rebuild Boris Johnson’s cabinet under a turquoise banner.
In case you’ve missed the news — there were no BREAKING NEWS alerts that I’m aware of; Jonathon Gullis has defected to Reform UK.
Former MP, Jonathon Gullis. This is the bit that makes me chuckle; they announce these failed Tories, but what, specifically, are they defecting from—to? Gullis lost his seat in the General Election of 2024 and has been variously employed as a GB News panellist and … well, that’s about it, since then. So what is this ex Johnson cheerleader adding to the Reform quiver? Unclear.
I assume that there is a grand plan behind this all but, from the outside, it just seems like Farage is trying to achieve his boyhood ambitions of being the leader of the Conservative and Union Party — by going the long way around and hoovering them, lock, stock into Reform UK. I can only imagine that they have a wall chart depicting their progress at Reform HQ, maybe they allow Lee Anderson to colour it in when they bring more Tories across the threshold.
There is some detail to be included now that may surprise you. The actual list of ex-Tories that have decided a jump to the Turquoise ship might resurrect their failing careers. Strap in.
If I asked you to guess how many ex-Tories have joined the Reform UK bandwagon, what would you think? Five? Six? Possibly, even ten? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that the number is far higher. BY my reckoning, there are now 15 former Tory MPs that have jumped in behind their new messiah, Farage. This list is as follows:
Lee Anderson – ex-Conservative MP for Ashfield
First Reform MP in the Commons after defecting from the Conservatives in early 2024; re-elected as a Reform MP in 2024.
Danny Kruger – MP for East Wiltshire
Defected from the Conservatives to Reform on 15 September 2025, becoming the first sitting Tory MP to cross directly to Reform UK.
Maria Caulfield – former Conservative MP for Lewes & health minister
Lost her seat in 2024; announced she was joining Reform in September 2025.
Adam Holloway – former Conservative MP for Gravesham (2005–2024)
Long-serving Tory MP who joined Reform in July 2025 after losing his seat.
Sir Jake Berry – former Conservative MP for Rossendale & Darwen; ex-party chair and minister
Switched his backing to Reform in 2025 after leaving Parliament.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns – former Conservative MP for Morley & Outwood; ex-minister
Joined Reform in late 2024 after a bust-up with the Tories and subsequently became Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire as a Reform candidate in 2025.
Marco Longhi – former Conservative MP for Dudley North (2019–2024)
Defected to Reform in 2025, after losing his seat to Labour.
Ross Thomson – former Conservative MP for Aberdeen South (2017–2019)
Left Scottish Conservatives and joined Reform in 2025.
David Jones – former Conservative MP for Clwyd West; ex-Secretary of State for Wales
Another high-profile Welsh Tory who moved to Reform in 2025.
Nadine Dorries – former Conservative MP & culture secretary
Reported by the Evening Standard as one of the most high-profile Conservative figures to throw in her lot with Reform UK by autumn 2025.
Anne Marie Morris – former Conservative MP for Newton Abbot (2010–2024)
Joined Reform in July 2025 and has been linked to working on Reform’s social-care policy.
Graham Simpson – former Scottish Conservative MSP for Central Scotland
Listed among prominent defectors to Reform UK in 2025.
Jonathan Gullis – former Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North; ex-deputy Tory chair
Defected to Reform on 1 December 2025, saying the Conservatives had “lost the trust of the British people”.
Lia Nici – former Conservative MP for Great Grimsby
One of the three ex-Tory MPs confirmed as new Reform members on 1 December 2025.
Chris Green – former Conservative MP for Bolton West
Joined Reform alongside Gullis and Nici in the same December 2025 wave.
Laura Anne Jones MS – South Wales East
Elected as a Welsh Conservative; defected to Reform UK on 22 July 2025, giving Reform its first member in the Senedd.
Sixteen former Conservative MP/Ss have defected, as it were, to Reform UK so far; some expected, some less so. I’d place Gullis, firmly in the ‘ we knew this was coming column’, perhaps Nadine Dorries less so.
Sidebar
No. 7 – Marco Longhi, is a corossover with the long read I’m writing and ties Farage to the Christian far-right. This will be out very soon, I promise.
Now, in football terms, Reform UK FC could form a solid first eleven football team with five subs, made up entire of former Conservative MPs. They even have home and away shirts now, with plenty to spare after disappointing sales of their £350 Black Shirts. Lee Anderson may not be the best pick for goalie, though — a safe pair of hands, he is not.
If we move on to local level politics, a Conservative [😀] estimate puts the defections into Reform at around the 70 councillors mark.
And to wrap up, let’s not forget that Sarah Pochin and Laila Cunningham were both Tory aligned, with the latter being a Conservative member of the London Assembly until very recently.
Zia Yusuf was still a paid up member of the Conservative Party when chosen as Reform UK chairman — he was only removed by the Tories after a Guardian exposé.
Before becoming a Brexit Party donor and MEP, Richard Tice used to give his cash to the Tories and was an active member.
And last, but by no means least — Nigel Farage. A fully paid up member of the Conservative and Union party for over 15 years; 1978-1992. He left because of the Maastricht treaty and the UK’s integration into the EU. Since successfully hoodwinking the British public into believing that Brexit was in our best interests, that barrier to being a Conservative no longer stands.
Perhaps Farage is moulding the New Conservative Party in his image. How else would he attract the likes of Nadine Dorries and Danny Kruger? Can we expect, yet another name change, in the Farage political machine?
UKIP > Brexit Party > Reform UK > New Conservatives
If that question had been asked of me last year, I would have said no. But now, with the unquestionable damage Kemi Badenoch has done, and is continuing to do, to the current Tory party — I’m not so sure. There may well be no Conservative and Union Party to vote for when she finally relinquishes her grasp on the reigns; the forthcoming May elections will be the bellwether in that respect.
It’s a hypothetical and slightly tongue in cheek point, but those Reform UK voters that felt they were supporting a new type of politics must be wondering what to do next. Their constant clamouring about a so called, uniparty appear to be correct, just not in the Labour—Tory way they meant it.
Tory—Reform FC UK.
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