Ex-Tory chairman Jake Berry defects to Reform UK

Former Conservative MP and party chairman Sir Jake Berry has announced he is defecting to Reform UK.

Writing in the Sun, Sir Jake said: "Old Westminster politics has failed. But there's a better way."

He said he was backing Reform UK "because I've always believed that change comes with challenging the old order. In shaking up the system when it isn't working".

Sir Jake becomes the second former Conservative Cabinet minister to join Nigel Farage's party this week, after ex-Welsh Secretary Sir David Jones made the move on Monday.

He is the fourth former Conservative MP to switch to Reform, after Sir David, Ross Thompson and Anne Marie Morris.

Sir Jake represented the Lancashire constituency of Rossendale and Darwen from 2010 until 2024, when he lost his seat to Labour.

During his time in Parliament he was a close ally of Boris Johnson and served in several positions including in the Cabinet Office and as Northern Powerhouse minister.