Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has secured the defection of a third former Conservative MP in as many months after Marco Longhi announced he was joining the party.
His move is another blow to new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, just weeks after a former Conservative minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns switched sides.
In a caustic parting shot, Mr Longhi said that “the party of Churchill and Thatcher has transformed into something unrecognisable”.
In his statement announcing his defection, the politician, who served as the MP for Dudley North from 2019 to 2024, said his decision was about “restoring our national identity and prioritising the needs of our citizens over political correctness and elitist agendas”.
“The Conservative Party I once identified with – the party of Churchill and Thatcher – has transformed into something unrecognisable, captured by a left-wing influence that masquerades as conservatism at election time while prioritising the wishes of an elite few when in power. In recent years it has repeatedly betrayed your trust and Labour have never earned that trust in the first place.”
He said he would not be part of what he described as a “uniparty drift” towards an ever more left-wing agenda.
And he suggested he planned to stand for election again, saying if he was fortunate enough to represent voters again “I will not shy away from the hard truths and necessary actions”.
In November Mr Farage revealed he had been in talks with other Tory MPs about joining Reform but denied he was chasing them.
He said: “This is not designed to be an alternative Conservative Party. This is a completely different, fresh political movement.”
After her defection, however, it was announced that Dame Andrea would run as the Reform candidate for the newly created role of Greater Lincolnshire mayor in May’s local elections.
Reform has also wooed other Tories, including the party’s new chair businessman Zia Yusuf; billionaire donor Nick Candy, who has become its new treasurer; another ex-MP Aidan Burley; and Conservative Home founder Tim Montgomerie.
Mr Burley was sacked as a ministerial aide after he organised an infamous Nazi-themed stag party.
The new Tory leader was embroiled in a very public spat with Mr Farage over Christmas, when she accused him of “fakery” over claims that Reform UK membership has surpassed that of the Conservatives, making it the second largest political party in the UK.
During the 2024 election, Mr Longhi was accused of stoking ethnic divisions with a letter addressed to “voters of the British Pakistani/ Kashmiri community” asking who they thought would speak up for Kashmir, him or Labour rival Sonia Kumar, with her common Indian surname in bold, underlined, capital letters.
