Nigel Farage makes shock prediction Tory MPs will defect to Reform

Nigel Farage predicts a handful of Tory MPs will defect to Reform within a year as he vowed to turn it into an electoral powerhouse.

The party leader is open to Suella Braverman making the switch and insisted several Red Wall Tories would still have seats if they had made the leap.

Mr Farage is promising to be laser-focused in turning the party into a huge organisation powered by members as he plots to win from “Kent to Newcastle”.

He told the Express: “There is an awful lot to do, I’m not deluding myself about that, but there’s an appetite, an appetite for something very different than, let’s be frank, two rather dull middle managers.”

Mrs Braverman is being tipped to switch party despite having been returned on a Conservative ticket just a couple of weeks ago.

Mr Farage insisted no discussions have taken place but said there was a place in his party for “like-minded” people.

Earlier this year ex-Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became Reform’s first MP when he switched sides.

He went on to retain his Ashfield seat despite a fierce fight from Labour, the Conservatives and local independents.

Mr Farage said his main focus is on building up the party so it has a strong grassroots operation that will make it an “attractive” proposition for anyone thinking of joining up.

Mrs Braverman fuelled speculation she is planning to defect with explosive attacks on the Conservative Party and potential leadership candidates but has since denied she will jump ship.

Mr Farage said has not spoken to the former home secretary and insisted all he is thinking about is building the party.

“There’s a place for like-minded people but is that what she wants?” he said.

“I’ve no idea, it’s not my focus.”

“I’ve spent zero time on defections. If they come about as an issue they come about as an issue.”

Mr Farage said a number of Red Wall Tories would still be in Parliament if they had followed Mr Anderson across the floor of the House.

“Had a few of the others made that leap they would have been reelected, there are several seats where MPs, had they stood for Reform they would have won,” he said.

“I would be very surprised that within the next year some didn’t make that leap,” he said.

“Right now we have to have something attractive to offer, that means building the voluntary structure right throughout the United Kingdom.

“It’s a big job but we are on it.”

He plans to raise funds and build the strong geographical base needed to win seats, focusing on the Red Wall and the east of England, “from Kent to Newcastle”.

Mr Farage added: “With a proper targeted plan we can raise the money, I’m very confident of that.”

In a message to Express readers, he said: “To those that did support us, thank you very much and to those that didn’t, well I understand.

“We were the new kids on the block but we have made this breakthrough.

“I think what we stand for and what we are prepared to say in public, not just in private, will be in tune with the vast majority of Express readers.”

Reform broke the 70,000 members mark at the weekend, getting on for double the number who joined Ukip at its height.

Mr Farage said he was going to “democratise and professionalise” the party after getting it out of the blocks and his first big job is sorting out an autumn conference, which will be held in the Midlands.

He said building a national party with local branches was a huge task but he is enjoying returning to frontline politics.

But big changes will have to be made structurally to give the party the best chance possible of winning significantly more seats next time around.

That includes introducing a proper vetting process to weed out unsavoury candidates trying to win on a Reform ticket.

Mr Farage said the party would have won 30 or 40 seats if it had better procedures in place ahead of July 4.

“It damaged us hugely at the end,” he said.

The Reform leader is popular on TikTok, a video streaming platform, with a recent clip of him telling protestors trying to disrupt his press conference attracting millions of views.

He said that Reform has a much younger membership than Ukip and is particularly popular with the under 25s.

The party leader said they were “much more aspirational, much more can do” than millennials.

He said it is “amazing” meeting young people in Clacton who are “very enthusiastic, keen to have a laugh and a chat”.

“There’s something almost cool about being patriotic again,” he added.

Mr Farage and his Ukip colleagues in the European Parliament were well known for eye-catching interventions in the otherwise often staid chamber.

He promised that Reform will not hold back but said he will take his time to work out how they respond.

“I’m not going to run like a bull at a gate,” he said. “You will know we are there.”

The Reform leader intends to be selective about what he does, but said he will “intervene in a way that provokes national debate”.

He said Britain has got some very serious problems that “no one has got the guts” to tackle “but if we do address them we have got a bright future”.