Former Lewes MP and former Conservative health minister Maria Caulfield has become the latest high-profile figure to join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
Caulfield, who represented Lewes for almost nine years, lost her seat to the Liberal Democrats at last year’s general election. Since leaving Parliament, she has returned to her previous profession as a nurse. Her decision to join Reform UK marks a further blow to the Conservative Party, which has seen a steady stream of defections in recent months.
Caulfield is now the fifteenth former Tory MP to switch allegiance to Reform. The party, led by Farage, has been steadily building its profile.
Her move follows a dramatic defection earlier this week. On Monday, Danny Kruger, who had been serving on Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s frontbench team as shadow work and pensions minister, became the first sitting Tory MP to cross the floor to Reform.
For Reform UK, the defections represent a significant boost in credibility. While Farage has long been a polarising figure in British politics, the steady trickle of experienced former ministers and MPs joining his party is likely to enhance its appeal to voters disillusioned with the Conservatives but unwilling to support Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
The political realignment comes at a time of wider turbulence. The arrival of Donald Trump in the UK for a second state visit has once again sparked heated debate. Supporters hail the visit as an opportunity to reinforce ties with Washington, while critics argue it is deeply divisive and poorly timed given Britain’s unsettled domestic politics.
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