Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, has defected to Reform UK, citing his opposition to the UK's handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The move marks the second defection to Nigel Farage's party in four days, following Robert Jenrick's departure on Thursday.
Rosindell, a former shadow Foreign Office minister under Kemi Badenoch, announced his decision on X, stating that both Labour and the Conservatives had been 'complicit in the surrender of this sovereign British territory to a foreign power'. He criticised the decision to order Conservative peers not to vote down the bill setting out the Chagos deal.
In his statement, Rosindell said: 'Sadly, I now believe that the Conservative party is irreparably bound to the mistakes of previous governments and unwilling to take meaningful accountability for the poor decisions made over so many issues.' He added that Reform UK is 'the only political movement that is genuinely willing to fight for the best interests of the United Kingdom'.
The defection brings Reform UK's number of MPs to seven. A Conservative party source accused Rosindell of 'stabbing his friends, colleagues and activists in the back', claiming he had threatened to defect for months but denied it as recently as Saturday.
Nigel Farage welcomed Rosindell, calling him 'a great patriot' and saying the Tories' 'lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him over the edge'. Farage has set a deadline of 7 May for any further defectors to join his party.
