Two senior Tories sparked fresh speculation that they could defect to Reform UK after it was announced that they will appear at an event with Nigel Farage’s deputy. Former home secretary Suella Braverman and ex-Brexit negotiator Lord Frost, who are both on the right of the Conservative Party, are due to speak alongside Reform deputy leader Richard Tice at a press conference tomorrow.
The Prosperity Institute event will launch a paper by Mrs Braverman on Britain leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a post on X, Mr Tice said: “Tomorrow at 10am I will be sharing a press conference with David Frost and Suella Braverman. Don’t miss it! Will be live-streamed.”
Lord Frost added: “Looking forward also to joining Richard Tice and Suella Braverman at Prosperity Institute tomorrow morning to help launch Suella’s important paper on leaving the ECHR and its implications.”
Mrs Braverman has repeatedly refused to rule out switching to Reform.
The MP for Fareham and Waterlooville told a Telegraph podcast last week: “We can’t ignore the polls. Reform is doing very well at the moment.”
Tory peer Lord Frost has also not ruled out defecting to Mr Farage’s ranks.
He told the Planet Normal podcast in May that he was “not emotionally committed” to the Conservatives.
He added that the Tories “still haven’t really clocked what the problem is” following their devastating general election defeat last year.
It comes after close Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries became the latest high-profile Tory defection to Reform UK last week on the eve of the insurgent party’s conference.
She joins other former Conservatives including Lee Anderson, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, David Jones, Marco Longhi and Sir Jake Berry.