Why ex-Tory chairman Jake Berry's defection makes Reform UK a more serious proposition
This is significant because seriousness is something Reform have struggled with. As a rapidly growing party which values forthright opinions, Reform tends to attract strong characters.
The party's vetting procedures for candidates have been somewhere between inadequate and nonexistent - Nigel Farage has admitted as much.
Of the five MPs elected at last year's general election only Farage, Richard Tice and Lee Anderson remain. They have added Sarah Pochin to their number, but that is still some attrition rate.
Then there was the resignation and un-resignation of party chairman Zia Yusuf.
It doesn't look serious.
Berry is a former Tory Party Chairman who was a major influence on Boris Johnson. He has thought deeply about how a conservative party can be of benefit to, and win votes in, the north of England.
He joins David Jones the former Welsh Secretary who also joined Reform this week.
If former cabinet ministers are starting to join Reform then it could soon start to look like the more professional political outfit Farage has been promising.
And that is a serious problem for Labour, and particularly for the Tories.
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South Wales Guardian
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Leader Live
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