Three former Conservative MPs, including the party's ex-deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis, have quit to join Reform UK. Gullis, the former MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and current mayor of Kidsgrove, said the Conservatives had "lost touch with the people it was meant to serve." He criticized the party for failing on migration and a Net Zero agenda that he claimed raised bills and threatened local ceramics jobs.
He is joined by former Bolton West MP Chris Green and ex-Great Grimsby representative Lia Nici. Gullis's move follows the defection of Daniel Jellyman, the former Conservative leader on Stoke-on-Trent City Council, to Reform just one month prior.
During his time in Parliament, Gullis served as Minister for School Standards and was appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party last year. His defection was hailed as a "huge boost" by local Reform councillor Luke Shenton, who won the party's first seat on the city council in a May by-election.
The other defectors bring significant experience. Chris Green was MP for Bolton West from 2015 to 2024 and served as a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Education. Lia Nici, elected in Great Grimsby in 2019, was parliamentary private secretary to the Prime Minister before losing her seat in 2024.
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Source: BBC
