Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry has sensationally announced he has joined Reform UK.
The former Northern Powerhouse minister has become the biggest name yet to back Nigel Farage’s insurgents.
He told The Sun that Reform UK was the “last chance to pull Britain back from terminal decline”.
Sir Jake, who served as MP for Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire between 2010 and 2024, also said the Tories had “lost their way” as he tore up his membership card after 25 years.
Speaking of his dramatic switch, Sir Jake warned: “Our streets are completely lawless. Migration is out of control. Taxes are going through the roof.
NEW:
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) July 9, 2025
Speaking to the @TheSun tonight — exclusive from @JakeBerry pic.twitter.com/VTLoqfVH9F
“And day after day, I hear from people in my community and beyond who say the same thing: ‘This isn’t the Britain I grew up in’.”
Sir Jake, who was awarded a knighthood by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his resignation honours, blasted his old party for “abandoning the British people”.
He said: “Some people are giving up. Not me. I’m staying. And I’m fighting. Fighting for the Britain I want my kids, and one day, my grandkids, to grow up in.”
Sir Jake is the second former minister this week to join Reform UK, after ex-Welsh Secretary David Jones.
Endorsing Mr Farage, who is currently on track to be Britain’s next Prime Minister, Sir Jake said: “Old Westminster politics has failed.
“Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again. The only way we get that is with Reform in government.”
Last month’s YouGov MRP poll found that if a general election were to happen tomorrow, Reform UK would win 271 seats.
Meanwhile, Labour would secure just 178 seats, less than half of the 411 Sir Keir Starmer won last year.
The Tories, led by Kemi Badenoch, would fall to fourth place behind the Liberal Democrats, with just 46 MPs.
