Bad news for the Tories, but Farage must tread carefully

Jake Berry has had an eclectic political career in the run-up to his defection to Reform UK this week.

- Jessica Elgot

Jake Berry has had an eclectic political career in the run-up to his defection to Reform UK this week. An enthusiastic campaigner for Remain at the referendum, he became a big champion of Boris Johnson, then backed the most moderate candidate, Tom Tugendhat, for party leader. But after Tugendhat inevitably faltered, he became one of the loudest enthusiasts for Liz Truss's premiership, under which he was given the post of Tory chair. After her brief leadership ended, Berry (pictured, below) was one of the party's most restive malcontents. Now, he says, the future is Reform.

The statement from his former local party pulls no punches, accusing him of wallowing in "grievances of the past" and saying the former MP "never truly recovered from the downfall of Liz Truss - a prime minister whose brief and chaotic tenure he enthusiastically supported". After that came "disengagement from the serious business of representing his constituents".