Three ex-Tory MPs defected to Reform today accusing their former party of ‘losing trust’ with voters.

Jonathan Gullis, Lia Nici and Chris Green became the latest Conservatives kicked out of their seats by voters at the 2024 election to announce they are joining Nigel Farage‘s insurgents.

They are the latest defections to hit Kemi Badenoch, despite allies hoping that she is starting to turn the tanker after a well-received Budget response and series of effective attacks on Labour.

A Reform party source said: ‘The Conservative Party is dead. Only Reform can beat Labour at the next election as the polls show time and time again.’

In a Facebook post, Mr Gullis, who represented Stoke-on-Trent North until the last election and was a schools minister under Liz Truss, said: ‘Today I am pleased to be joining Reform UK. Leaving the Conservative Party after 18 years is not a decision I have taken lightly.

‘Over time, I have watched a party I once believed in lose touch with the people it was meant to serve.

Jonathan Gullis (right), the former MP for Stoke-on-Trent North,  said he was abandoning the Conservatives after 18 years to join Nigel Farage’s insurgents

Lia Nici (right) and Chris Green (left), who lost their seats in Grimsby and Bolton in 2024, have also announced they are defecting

Mr Farage is seeking to show his party is ready to take power at the next election

‘From failing to control both legal and illegal migration to pursuing a net zero agenda that has seen a rise in our household energy bills and put jobs in Stoke-on-Trent’s world famous ceramics sector at risk, the Conservative Party has understandably lost the trust of the British people.

‘As a country, we face serious and deep-rooted challenges, and what is required now are bold, radical ideas alongside the determination to deliver them.

‘I believe only Reform UK has the vision and courage needed to restore pride in Britain and deliver real change, putting our country and our communities first.

‘Nigel Farage has shown, consistently over many decades, the courage of his convictions, and it is that strength of leadership which will drive forward the bold and radical reforms our country so urgently needs.’

Mr Green served as Grimsby MP and was a parliamentary private secretary under Boris Johnson. Ms Nici represented Bolton West and was also part of Liz Truss’s government as a party whip in 2022.

 Mr Gullis is a former teacher who was a schools minister under Liz Truss

The three defections are the first since Danny Kruger, the sitting MP for East Wiltshire, left the Tories to Reform in September.

Mr Gullis, who was ousted by Labour from his seat of Stoke-on-Trent North at the general election, was a secondary school teacher before entering Parliament.

But he revealed in September 2024 that despite applying for a few teaching jobs since the election, he had ‘sadly not even had an interview yet’.

He told Times Radio: ‘It’s nearly three months now and I’m still without a job, right? And that’s scary. I’m a father of a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I’ve got a wife who’s extremely supportive.

He has since become a senior fellow at The Centre for Social Justice think tank and the mayor of Kidsgrove, Staffordshire.