Andrew Rosindell has resigned from the Conservative Party and defected to Reform UK.The former shadow minister and MP for Romford said the Tories were "irreparably bound to the mistakes of previous governments" and not willing to take "meaningful accountability" for poor decisions.
He said he had spoken to Nigel Farage on Sunday evening before agreeing to join his party. The Reform UK leader called him "a great patriot" who "will be a great addition to our team".
A Conservative source said Rosindell's departure was a prime example of Farage doing Badenoch's "spring cleaning" and that Reform was "welcome" to him.
Rosindell's move comes after Robert Jenrick joined Reform on Thursday, hours after being sacked from the shadow cabinet by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who had accused him of plotting to defect.
Rosindell said in a statement on X that the "views and concerns of constituents such as mine in Romford have been consistently ignored for far too long".
"Our country has endured a generation of managed decline," he added. "Radical action is now required to reverse the damaging decisions of the past and to forge a new course for Britain."
Rosindell, who was shadow minister for foreign affairs before his resignation, said he had joined the Conservative Party when he was 14.
He cited the Labour government's decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and the "failure of the Conservative Party both when in government and more recently in opposition to actively hold the government to account on the issue" as among the reasons for his defection.
"Both the government and the opposition have been complicit in the surrender of this sovereign British territory to a foreign power," he said.
Farage said: "The Tories' lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him over the edge, and we are delighted to welcome him to our ranks."
Rosindell becomes Reform's seventh MP and the third sitting Conservative MP to join the party, following Danny Kruger and Jenrick.
About 20 former Tory MPs have switched their allegiance to Reform UK, including former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who did so on Monday 12 January.
