Nigel Farage secures highest profile defection coup yet as ex-Cabinet Minister joins Reform UK

The Tory trio join former Conservative Minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns, ex-Red Wall MP Marco Longhi and former Tory MP Aidan Burley in Reform’s ranks.

Jones, who was a card-carrying Tory member for more than half-a-century, served as Welsh Secretary between 2012 to 2014, later working as a Brexit Minister under Theresa May.

However, Reform UK is preparing for a major test next year in Jones’s home patch of Wales, with Farage identifying next year’s Welsh Parliament Election as a “priority”.

Jones’s defection also comes after five other former Conservative MPs have jumped ship to Reform UK.

Ex-Newton Abbott MP Anne Marie Morris last week announced her switch to lead Reform’s social care policy.

The 68-year-old had the whip removed by the Tories: once in 2017 for using the n-word in a debate about Brexit, for which she apologised unreservedly; and once in 2022 when she supported a Labour proposal to cut VAT on energy bill, saying it was the right thing to do.

That came after Ross Thomson, who was Conservative MSP and later MP for Aberdeen South from 2017 to 2019, defected to Reform.

Thomson told GB News: “It’s been a long time coming. Something I’ve been considering for years as I became more, and more, disillusioned with the Conservatives.

“It’s been the best decision. I feel it’s right for me, I feel at home, and all the local members have been so friendly, welcoming, and supportive.

“Reform are already causing tremors on Scottish politics. As we become focused on the upcoming election I’m convinced will cause an earthquake at Holyrood – and it’s needed.”