Romford MP Andrew Rosindell becomes latest Tory to defect to Reform

Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, has announced his defection to Reform UK, the second such departure to Nigel Farage’s party in four days.Rosindell, who was a shadow Foreign Office minister under Kemi Badenoch, announced in a statement on X that he was joining Reform, giving as the main reason his opposition to the UK’s handover of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.While Badenoch opposes the Chagos plan finalised by Keir Starmer, talks about the fate of the British-controlled islands began under the Conservatives, and Rosindell said he felt the party had not properly sought to oppose the plan.After the defection on Thursday of Robert Jenrick, who was Badenoch’s shadow justice secretary, Rosindell’s move puts Reform on seven MPs. While Rosindell is notably lower profile than Jenrick, the departure of another sitting MP is a blow to the Tories.In his statement, Rosindell said he had been a long-term advocate for the rights of Chagossians removed from the island of Diego Garcia in 1971 to allow the construction of a large UK-US airbase.Both Labour and the Conservatives “have been complicit in the surrender of this sovereign British territory to a foreign power”, he wrote, criticising the decision earlier in January to order Conservative peers to not vote down the bill setting out the Chagos deal.He said: “Sadly, I now believe that the Conservative Party is irreparably bound to the mistakes of previous governments and unwilling to take meaningful accountability for the poor decisions made over so many issues.“Following a conversation earlier this evening with Nigel Farage, I have therefore agreed to join Reform UK as its seventh member of parliament. It is clear to me that Reform UK is now the only political movement that is genuinely willing to fight for the best interests of the United Kingdom.”He added: “Radical action is now required to reverse the damaging decisions of the past and to forge a new course for Britain – one that firmly places the interests of the British people first.”The 59-year-old is the third sitting Tory MP to defect, the East Wiltshire MP, Danny Kruger, having signed up to Reform in September.The former cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi, who is no longer an MP, was announced by Farage as another defector on Monday. Jenrick’s departure after months of secret talks with Farage was forced on Thursday after Badenoch’s team learned of his plans and he was sacked from his shadow ministerial role and lost the party whip.A Tory party source told the Press Association that Rosindell had threatened to defect for months but denied he was doing so until as recently as Saturday.“The Conservative Party supported Rosindell throughout his many troubles,” the source said. “And he’s responded by stabbing his friends, colleagues and activists in the back. Reform are welcome to him.”In a statement, Farage said of Rosindell: “Andrew is a great patriot. The Tories’ lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him over the edge, and we are delighted to welcome him to our ranks.”After Jenrick’s move, Farage announced that the deadline for any other defectors to join his party would be 7 May, the date of elections to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, and to councils around England.