Conservative MP Danny Kruger announced on Monday that he has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, declaring his “tragic conclusion” that the Conservative Party is “over” as a national force — a dramatic move from a former Tory speechwriter now serving as a welfare spokesman.
Danny Kruger, a Conservative lawmaker and former speechwriter for David Cameron and Boris Johnson, has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, he said at a Reform press conference on Monday. The announcement was confirmed in reporting by Reuters.
Kruger said he has been a member, activist and employee of the Conservative Party for over 20 years and that he counts “many good and decent people” among his friends there — which made his defection “so personally painful.”
At the press conference Kruger framed his move as a tragic conclusion: “the Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left,” he said, signalling deep dissatisfaction with the party’s direction.
Kruger was elected as an MP in 2019 and has served as a welfare spokesman for the opposition Conservatives. His résumé also includes stints as a speechwriter for then-prime ministers David Cameron and — in 2019 — Boris Johnson.
