Former Conservative culture secretary Nadine Dorries has announced her defection to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party. Writing in the Daily Mail, the 68-year-old declared: "The time for action is now and I believe that the only politician who has the answers, the knowledge and the will to deliver is Nigel Farage."
Dorries described her departure from the Conservatives as deeply personal, stating: "My decision to leave the party I've served for more than 30 years is possibly the most difficult I've ever had to make, and it has taken me 12 agonising months to reach." She declared that "it's time for change" and to "make Britain great again", calling the Tory Party "dead".
The announcement comes just one day before Reform UK's party conference begins. Dorries represents the highest profile Conservative to join Reform UK, following earlier defections from former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, former Wales secretary David Jones and Dame Andrea Jenkyns.
Political backlash intensifies
Labour responded sharply to the defection, with a party spokesperson stating: "Nadine Dorries says the Tory party is dead - as one of the people who helped to kill it, she should know." The spokesperson criticised her loyalty to Boris Johnson despite "the partying in Downing Street during the pandemic while people couldn't see their loved ones".
A Liberal Democrat source remarked: "We don't know who to feel more sorry for, Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage." Green Party leader Zack Polanski described the move as logical, writing on X: "Nadine Dorries joining Reform isn't a shock. It's logical for a politics of cruelty, corruption, and the collapse of neoliberalism."
From council estate to Westminster
Born in Liverpool in 1957 and raised on a council estate, Dorries began her working life as a nurse before pursuing business ventures. She opened a child daycare business and later became a director at Bupa before entering politics.
After working for three years as an adviser to former shadow home secretary and shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin, she secured the Mid Bedfordshire seat in 2005. She served 18 years in the House of Commons before stepping down as an MP in 2023.
Career controversies and highlights
Dorries was thrust into the spotlight in 2012 when she was suspended from the Conservative Party for appearing on I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! without informing the chief whip. She was readmitted to the party in May 2013.
Her ministerial career included roles as minister of state for patient safety, suicide prevention and mental health, before her promotion to secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport in September 2021 under Boris Johnson. During her tenure, she frequently advocated for BBC reform and led the now-abandoned plan to privatise Channel 4.
Her parliamentary career was marked by several controversies, including admitting in 2009 that taxpayers footed the bill for a lost £2,190 deposit on a rented flat. In 2010, she was rebuked by parliamentary standards commissioner John Lyon for misleading constituents on her blog, admitting it was "70% fiction".
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
