The arrival of former Conservative superstar Ben Bradley in the ranks of Reform UK is a major moment for Nigel Farage’s party. Not long ago, Mr Bradley was at the vanguard of blue-collar conservatism, but his defection to Reform UK signals that the Tory mission to win over the patriotic working class is in dire crisis.
This Derbyshire-born son of a police officer became the first Conservative in history to win Mansfield in the 2017 election. At the age of 27, he demonstrated that the Tories could win over voters in supposed Labour bastions. His victory paved the way for Boris Johnson’s demolition of Labour’s “Red Wall” in 2019. In 2021, he became the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.
That council is now dominated by Reform, and memories of Mr Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” election are fading. Tories once talked with excitement of a “realignment” in UK politics, with voters abandoning liberal Labour for a Brexit-loving Conservative Party focused on blue-collar concerns such as the revitalisation of the high street.
Historic change may well be under way, but now it is Reform that is reaping the rewards.
Mr Bradley’s decision to take on the role of “head of local government action” boosts Reform’s credibility. As with fellow Conservative defector Danny Kruger, he would not have left the Tory tribe unless he was convinced Mr Farage’s party could make history.
His assessment of where the traditional parties of government have gone wrong is damning.
“They have talked about being tough on crime, reducing immigration, about helping working people, whilst in practice they’ve failed to act and have delivered the opposite,” he said.
“The trust in those parties has gone, and it’s not coming back.”
When he turns up at Reform’s next conference, he may well bump into many other former Conservative MPs who have concluded their old party is beyond resurrection.
Former Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis has joined the teal team, and so has ex-Great Grimsby MP Lia Nici. Veteran Brexiteer Dame Andrea Jenkyns is now Reform’s Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, and erstwhile Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry today wants to see Mr Farage in No 10.
Former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries and David Jones have also made their new political home with Reform.
Labour will claim this shows Reform is little more than a home for disgruntled Tories. But Sir Keir Starmer knows that voters who gave Mr Johnson a chance in 2019 to end the Brexit chaos may well give Mr Farage a mandate to end the small boats crisis if the chaos in the Channel continues.
The Conservatives need to persuade the most promising potential candidates to stand for their party and not for Reform. To survive as a national party, it needs to recruit the next generation of Ben Bradleys – people who can win the confidence of their prosperity-hungry communities – without delay.
