Suella Braverman made a surprise appearance at a Reform UK rally in London, telling the cheering crowd she had “come home”. The former home secretary, sacked twice, is the latest Conservative defector to join Nigel Farage’s party, which now has eight MPs, including three with cabinet-level experience.
But her defection, like that of Robert Jenrick a week earlier, carries risks. Labour MPs have warned that voting Reform means “a Tory replay” led by misfits or electoral rejects. Farage is aware of this, having set a 7 May deadline for party-switchers to avoid a “needy trickle”.
Braverman brings significant baggage. She was forced to resign under Liz Truss after using a personal email for sensitive documents, and later sacked by Rishi Sunak for an unauthorised newspaper article that exacerbated tensions over policing of protests. One Reform insider previously described her as “not a team player” and “too disruptive”.
Farage denied previously ruling out her membership, but admitted others might have. The party’s challenge is to expand beyond its hardcore 20% support to win an election, while integrating figures tainted by past government failures.
