Reform Tory defectors 'limit party's sales pitch'

Reform UK may have to choose between presenting itself as a new and radical party or as a home for "disgruntled former Conservatives" who lost their seats at the election, James Cleverly said yesterday.

- Peter Walker

Cleverly, the former home and foreign secretary who stood to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, also said Nigel Farage's party could suffer if the councils it now runs struggle to manage services such as bin collections and social care.

Speaking at an event in Westminster organised by the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, Cleverly dismissed the idea that he hoped to replace Kemi Badenoch.

Cleverly discussed the way that Reform had absorbed a series of former Tory MPs, most recently Jake Berry, the party's former chair, who defected last week.