Nigel Farage said more former Conservative ministers will join Reform UK after the defection of Nadine Dorries, while acknowledging the party’s “biggest weakness” is a lack of experience at government level.
Dorries, a former culture secretary in Boris Johnson’s government, joined Farage on stage at Reform’s conference in Birmingham on Friday, declaring “the Tory party is dead” and urging Conservative members to follow her to the new party. Speaking on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Farage said Dorries “brings us the one commodity we’re very short of and that's experience at government level” and predicted further defections.
Farage conceded that Reform’s senior team previously lacked ministers who had served in government and that the party had been unable to answer some questions about how it would deliver policy because of that gap. "Nadine came yesterday. She's the first, and there will be others," he said. He also sought to distinguish Reform’s claims on Labour’s fitness to govern from his admission of inexperience, saying Dorries’ arrival made the party more qualified.
Several former Conservatives have already joined Reform, including Adam Holloway, Sir Jake Berry, Andrea Jenkyns, Marco Longhi, Ross Thomson, David Jones and Lee Anderson, according to party statements and media reports.
Sir Jacob Rees‑Mogg, the former business secretary, attended the conference and was photographed with delegates, but told attendees and later media he would remain a Conservative. Rees‑Mogg said he had been tempted — in part by his teenage daughter Mary, who has joined Reform — but that he would not defect. "Mary has joined Reform… but I'm not going to," he said at a fringe event, adding that he wanted to keep the "family of the Right" united under Britain’s first‑past‑the‑post electoral system.
Although he refused to switch parties, Rees‑Mogg told The Telegraph he would be willing to advise Reform if it were to win the next general election. He said that civil servants were sometimes obstructive because of legal constraints stemming from acts and conventions such as the Human Rights Act, the Equality Act, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Refugee Convention and the Climate Change Act, and argued that Parliament would need to repeal legislation to prevent such obstruction.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake dismissed the prospect of an alliance between the Conservatives and Reform UK as "not going to happen." Speaking to Sky News, Hollinrake said Reform offered "razzmatazz" but had not set out credible plans to fill what he described as a multi‑billion‑pound fiscal hole. He said the party had not explained how it would close a purported £140 billion‑a‑year shortfall and criticised what he called unrealistic spending commitments.
Labour’s new chairwoman, Anna Turley, said Farage had "no plan for Britain" and seized on his admission of inexperience to argue that Reform was not fit to govern. "Putting yourself forward for high office while admitting your team aren't fit to govern isn't patriotism, it's egotism," she said.
At the Birmingham conference, Dorries urged Conservatives to "do the right thing" and defect, and some Reform figures have signalled hopes that more former ministers will join. Farage played down suggestions that Boris Johnson might join Reform, saying a coalition with the former prime minister would not work and criticizing the post‑Brexit immigration changes often associated with Johnson, which Reform has dubbed the "Boris wave." He said that surge in legal immigration was an issue Reform supporters would not forgive.
Party strategists and commentators have flagged the tension at the heart of Reform’s appeal: a surge in profile and membership driven by high‑profile defections and media attention, paired with questions about the party’s ability to translate rhetoric into governing competence. Farage acknowledged those limits publicly and framed recent arrivals as beginning to address them.
Reform’s growth follows a period of defections from the Conservatives and reflects broader realignments on the British right. Whether the party can attract sufficient experienced figures to bridge gaps in administrative and ministerial know‑how will be a test if it continues to position itself as an alternative government. Farage has set out a strategy that relies in part on further high‑profile recruits and on persuading disaffected Conservative voters and MPs that Reform can offer both policy change and a credible governing team.
As the political maneuvering continues, the Conservatives have reiterated their intent to remain a distinct party, while Labour has sought to capitalise on Reform’s acknowledged gaps. Any future defections, offers of informal advice or formal alliances will shape debate over the next general election and the prospects for a reordering of Britain's right‑of‑centre political landscape.