Another former Tory MP has defected to Reform UK as Nigel Farage‘s party extends its opinion poll lead.
Maria Caulfield, a former health minister who now works as a full-time nurse in the NHS, was today revealed to have joined Reform’s ranks.
‘If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform,’ the former Lewes MP, who served in Boris Johnson‘s and Rishi Sunak‘s governments, told GB News.
‘The country is going to change a lot. The same people who thought that Brexit would not happen think that Reform will not happen. They are in for a shock.’
It came after an ally of Mr Farage gloated that even Labour MPs are ready to jump ship and join Reform.
Arron Banks, the businessman who stood for Reform in this year’s local elections, MPs in Labour’s ‘Red Wall’ are looking to defect to Mr Farage’s party.
Danny Kruger on Monday became the first sitting Tory MP to switch to Reform, with Mr Farage saying there ‘will be more colleagues’ of Mr Kruger joining.
The latest YouGov poll showed Reform stretching their lead over Labour to nine percentage points.
Maria Caulfield, pictured in the House of Commons in 2023, is the latest former Tory MP to join Reform UK
Danny Kruger on Monday became the first sitting Conservative MP to switch to Nigel Farage’s party
Sir Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have slumped to a new low following a torrid fortnight for the Prime Minister, according to a More In Common poll
Mr Farage’s party were backed by 29 per cent of voters, up two points from the previous week, while Labour were on 20 per cent support, down two points.
This was the joint lowest Labour figure this year, according to the pollster.
The Tories were unchanged on 17 per cent, ahead of the Liberal Democrats who were also unchaged on 15 per cent, and the Greens on 10 per cent, down two points.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have slumped to a new low following a torrid fortnight for the Prime Minister, according to a separate More In Common poll.
Only 17 per cent of Britons said the Labour premier was doing a good job, compared with 63 per cent who said Sir Keir is doing a bad job.
This gave the PM a net approval rating of -46, which is lower than Tory leader Kemi Badenoch (-23), Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey (-10), and Reform’s Mr Farage (-7).
Over the past two weeks, despite attempting to move to ‘Phase Two’ of his premiership, Sir Keir has suffered a series of blows.
He saw Angela Rayner resign as Deputy PM over a tax row, which prompted a frantic reshuffle of his ministerial ranks.
Sir Keir was then forced to sack Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US over his links to notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
One of the PM’s senior aides Paul Ovenden quit Downing Street on Monday over a series of derogatory sexual remarks he made about senior MP Diane Abbott in 2017.
Mr Kruger announced his defection to Reform at a press conference alongside Mr Farage on Monday.
The East Wiltshire MP described his move as ‘personally painful’ but condemned the Conservative Party as ‘over’.
Shortly after Mr Kruger’s defection was revealed, Mr Banks – who was Reform’s candidate for West of England mayor in May – suggested Labour MPs might also follow suit.
He posted on X/Twitter: ‘I’m much more interested to learn which major trade union and Labour MPs in the red wall will jump to Reform. It’s coming…’
Mr Banks previously bankrolled UKIP and the Leave.EU campaign when they were fronted by Mr Farage.
YouGov surveyed 2,384 adults in Britain between 14 to 15 September.
