THE Conservatives have suffered an embarrassing frontbench defection to Reform UK.
Danny Kruger, who had been Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s shadow welfare minister, has moved to Nigel Farage’s party.
The Eton-educated son of TV presenter Prue Leith, Kruger previously served as political secretary to the prime minister during the late stages of Boris Johnson’s time in Downing Street.
The East Wiltshire MP’s defection was unveiled at a press conference in Mayfair on Monday, where Farage said Kruger would head up Reform’s efforts to prepare for government.
Describing his move as “personally painful”, Kruger condemned his former party as “over”.
He said: “We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial, and the result is in the polls.
“And those voters aren’t coming back, and every day, more and more people are joining them in deserting the party that has failed.”
Kruger is the first sitting Conservative MP to defect to Reform UK. Earlier in September, former Tory culture secretary Nadine Dorries also jumped ship to Farage's party.
In Scotland, former Tory Graham Simpson MSP defected to Reform UK in August.
The slew of defections has led to accusations that Farage is leading a group of Tories under a different branding, undermining his claim of representing change in UK politics.
A Labour party spokesperson said of Kruger's defection: "Every Conservative who defects to Reform ties Nigel Farage more closely to their record of failure.
"Nigel Farage can recruit as many failed Tories as he likes – it won’t change the fact that he has no plan for Britain.
"The Tories crashed our economy and left public services crumbling. Britain deserves better than Reform’s Tory tribute act that would leave working people paying a very high price."
