Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK – What It Means for British Politics

On 26 January 2026, one of the most prominent figures on the British right walked out of the Conservative Party after 30 years and into the arms of Nigel Farage. Suella Braverman’s defection to Reform UK — the fourth sitting Tory MP to make the switch since the 2024 election — is both a symptom of the Conservatives’ existential crisis and a test of whether Reform can absorb so many former Tories without losing its insurgent identity.

By UK Political Westminster Desk  |  Published: 2 February 2026  |  Reading time: 10 min

The announcement came at a “Veterans For Reform” rally in central London. Nigel Farage took the stage first, teasing the crowd with the line “It’s about time, isn’t it?” before introducing his latest recruit. Suella Braverman — former Home Secretary, former Attorney General, and one of the most divisive figures in modern British politics — walked out to a standing ovation, embraced Farage, and declared: “I feel like I’ve come home.”

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With those words, Braverman ended a 30-year membership of the Conservative Party and became the fourth sitting Tory MP to defect to Reform UK since the party’s crushing defeat at the July 2024 general election. Her move brings Reform’s parliamentary representation to eight MPs out of 650 in the House of Commons — a small number in absolute terms, but a growing one that now includes two former Cabinet ministers and carries a symbolic weight that far exceeds the headcount.

Conservative MPs Who Have Defected to Reform UK (Since 2024 Election)

MP	Constituency	Former Cabinet Role	Date of Defection
Andrew Rosindell	Romford	Backbencher	2025
Danny Kruger	East Wiltshire	Backbencher	2025
Robert Jenrick	Newark	Housing Secretary; Immigration Minister	January 2026
Suella Braverman	Fareham and Waterlooville	Home Secretary; Attorney General	26 January 2026

Why Braverman Left

Braverman’s stated reasons for leaving the Conservatives centred on what she described as a pattern of broken promises — particularly on immigration, Brexit implementation, and withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. In her press conference alongside Farage, she framed her departure not as abandonment but as a response to being abandoned.

“If the party you joined no longer reflects the values and principles that it once did, you should question your allegiance. If the party keeps breaking its promises, you should question your loyalty. And now too many promises lie in tatters. Too much damage has been done, and I no longer trust the Conservative Party.”

— Suella Braverman, Reform UK press conference, 26 January 2026

Braverman was sacked as Home Secretary by Rishi Sunak in November 2023 after repeatedly diverging from government policy on immigration and policing. She had advocated publicly for the UK to leave the ECHR and had described the government’s Rwanda deportation scheme as inadequate. In a devastating parting letter to Sunak, she accused him of having “manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver.” After the 2024 election, she attempted to run for the Conservative leadership but was unable to secure enough support even to reach the ballot.

The Conservative Response

The Conservative Party’s initial response to Braverman’s defection was notably clumsy. An official statement said that the party “did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy” — a line that provoked immediate backlash for its condescending tone and was withdrawn within two hours. The party also noted that Braverman had failed to muster enough support for her 2022 leadership bid and that Farage himself had previously said he did not want her in Reform.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s handling of the defection was widely contrasted with her more assured response to Jenrick’s departure the previous week, when she pre-emptively sacked him from the shadow cabinet before he could announce his switch. The withdrawn mental health comment suggested a less disciplined approach this time around.

Suella Braverman — Political Career Timeline

Year	Event
1980	Born in Harrow, London (née Sue-Ellen Fernandes)
2015	Elected MP for Fareham
2017–2018	Chair of European Research Group
2020–2022	Attorney General for England and Wales
Sep 2022	Appointed Home Secretary under Liz Truss
Oct 2022	Resigned over security breach; reappointed under Sunak
Nov 2023	Sacked as Home Secretary by Sunak
2024	Failed Conservative leadership bid (eliminated before ballot)
26 Jan 2026	Defects to Reform UK; becomes party’s 8th MP

Reform UK’s Growing Pains

Braverman’s defection presents both an opportunity and a risk for Reform UK. On one hand, she brings name recognition, media attention, and the gravitas of a former Cabinet minister. On the other, her arrival — combined with Jenrick’s, Zahawi’s, and others — raises a question that some within the party are already asking: at what point does Reform stop being an insurgent movement and start looking like a collection of ex-Tory retreads?

The tension is not theoretical. In July 2025, Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf publicly attacked both Braverman and Jenrick over the Afghan data breach scandal, asking who had been in government when the cover-up occurred and naming both by role. Those posts have circulated widely since their defections, creating an “own goal” narrative that the party’s critics have been quick to exploit. The Liberal Democrats described Reform as “a retirement home for disgraced former Conservative ministers.”

Farage has acknowledged the risk, setting a deadline of 7 May — the date of the 2026 local elections — as the cut-off for accepting further Conservative defectors. After that date, he said, the party would start to look like “a rescue charity for every panicky Tory MP.”

Reform UK — Current Parliamentary Position

Category	Number
Total Reform UK MPs	8
MPs elected in 2024 general election	5
Won in by-election	1
Defectors from Conservatives	4 (Rosindell, Kruger, Jenrick, Braverman)
Left the party (of 2024 intake)	2
Conservative MPs (for comparison)	116
Labour MPs (governing party)	Majority (411)

The Wider Context: Conservative Collapse or Reform Bubble?

Braverman’s defection must be understood within the broader realignment of British right-wing politics. Since the Conservative Party’s historic defeat in July 2024 — when it was reduced to 121 seats, its worst result since 1906 — the party has haemorrhaged members, donors, and now MPs to Reform UK. Opinion polls in early 2026 consistently show Reform leading both Labour and the Conservatives, with the party polling around 25-30% nationally ahead of the crucial May local elections in England and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

The question is whether this polling lead can translate into the kind of electoral infrastructure that wins council seats and, eventually, general elections. Reform’s strengths — media savvy, a charismatic leader in Farage, and a clear anti-establishment message — are real. But the party remains organisationally thin compared to the Conservatives, with limited local-level presence in many areas. The defectors bring parliamentary experience but also the baggage of the Conservative governing record that Reform has spent years attacking.

“I’m calling time. I’m calling time on Tory betrayal. I’m calling time on Tory lies. I’m calling time on a party that keeps making promises with zero intention of keeping them.”

— Suella Braverman, Reform UK rally, 26 January 2026

UK Polling — Parties’ National Vote Share (Late January 2026)

Party	Poll Average	2024 Election Result	Change
Reform UK	~25–30%	14.3%	+11–16%
Labour	~21–25%	33.7%	-9–13%
Conservative	~17–20%	23.7%	-4–7%
Liberal Democrats	~10–12%	12.2%	~0%
Green	~8–10%	6.7%	+1–3%

For the Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch, each defection deepens the crisis. The party now faces a genuine existential threat: not merely losing the next election, but ceasing to be the primary vehicle for right-of-centre politics in Britain. Whether Braverman’s move accelerates that process or whether it eventually overloads Reform with the very establishment baggage it purports to reject remains one of the most consequential open questions in British politics heading into the spring.