Tory ex-cabinet minister David Jones joins Reform UK
The former Clwyd West MP described the move as 'a very difficult decision for me' and said he had written to the Conservatives in October to say he would not renew his membership, but received no reply.
He said: 'I joined the Conservatives all those years ago because I believed it was the party that best reflected my values and beliefs. Regrettably, that is no longer the case.
'Today, Reform UK is the party that best represents my views – and, I believe, those of many others who have become disillusioned with the two old major parties.'
After losing his cabinet job in the 2014 reshuffle, he went on to become a minister in the Department for Exiting the EU under Theresa May for a year between 2016 and 2017.
He later became deputy chairman of the European Research Group, a Eurosceptic group of Tory MPs.
Mr Jones, who stood down from Parliament last year after 19 years as an MP, said he had no intention of standing for election, and had joined Reform 'as a private individual'.
But as a former cabinet minister, he is the most senior ex-Tory MP to join Reform so far, following Marco Longhi, Anne Marie Morris, Ross Thomson, Aiden Burley and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, now the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.
His defection also comes as Mr Farage's party seeks to make significant gains in next year's elections at the Senedd in Wales, where polls suggest the party is in second or third place.
It is a boost for Reform after a difficult weekend in which one of its five MPs 'removed the party whip from himself' amid allegations about two of his businesses.
James McMurdock, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, insisted 'all' of his 'business dealings' complied with regulations following claims he improperly borrowed money from the government during the pandemic.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
4 hours ago
- The National
Snide comment about the SNP's lack of action was factually incorrect
There have been a plethora of similar self-proclaimed 'radical' and 'left' parties and groupings founded over the past 60 or so years, but none of them has gained any significant and/or sustained degree of traction. READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn's new outfit won't back indyref2. No British party will The inescapable fact is that the 'working classes' and the various other target groups identified by those parties simply chose not to support or vote for them! Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana no doubt have noble aims behind their decision to form a new party of the left south of the Border but I fear that they, like some present-day Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, will end up tilting at inanimate windmills, having traversed an arid and inhospitable landscape. In his column Mark Brown also filled up space by having a customary pop at the SNP. I took particular issue with his snide comment that 'The party ... has never so much as broken a window in the cause of independence'. I appreciate that the incident may have taken place before Mark's time, but I recall Jim Sillars nursing a heavily bandaged cut arm and hand sustained while seeking – via a window – to enter and occupy the old Royal High School building in Edinburgh in 1981 as part of the SNP's then civil disobedience campaign. It is not only BBC Scotland that get their 'facts' wrong! Brian McGarry Inverkeithing IAIN K of Dunoon in his Long Letter (Jul 11) makes an important point about the House of Lords, and the iniquity of 'Lords Spiritual', ie, 26 English Anglican bishops, in particular, influencing decisions on Scotland within the British constitution. No Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish Anglican bishop sits in the House of Lords. Neither does any Roman Catholic bishop. It is the Scottish Episcopal Church that continues in communion with the Anglican family of churches, which includes the Episcopal Church in the USA, the first bishop of which was consecrated in Aberdeen by Scottish bishops in 1784. READ MORE: Ian Murray panned for 'disgraceful' U-turns as past motions resurface I recall two examples that The National has covered on English bishops in the House of Lords attempting to influence decisions upon Scotland: 1. 'Archbishop Sentamu to back UK's Brexit power grab on Holyrood' (March 22, 2018). 2. 'Lord [spiritual, Rt Rev, Julian Henderson, Bishop of Blackburn] suggests England should get a vote in 2023 Scottish independence referendum' (June 23, 2022). Another interesting point that Iain K provides is that the Church of England, until as late as 1870, was wary of providing schools for poor children as there was fear that an educated public could 'destabilise the establishment'. The reason I grew up in an Episcopalian family was because my late father, who was Aberdeenshire Liberal before joining with me to vote SNP with me on my first election in the 70s, commenced his education in 1920 at an Episcopal mission school in Peterhead. It was called the Chapel School. James M Aberdeen IT was certainly encouraging to read your article 'Government invests £85m to expand Hospital at Home service' (Jul 10), especially as the First Minister announced this investment while on a visit to Falkirk. However, why did I have to go to page 19 before I read such an important announcement, which ultimately impacts on us all, whether we have cause to use the wonderful services of our NHS or just assured that the service is there for us, free at the point of need? Catriona C Clark Falkirk WHY does Westminster make such a habit of looking at problems from the wrong end? Surely the right place to start looking for savings in the recent shambolic welfare pantomime is where the problems originate, within the management of the system? I saw figures from research some time ago which revealed that only 1% of payments made were fraudulent, but 7% were due to errors made by the department. Whether any of this is due to inefficient or too-complex systems, training of staff, understaffing or human error, it must be possible to reform the system, make it speedy and efficient, make it quick and easy to identify and reclaim any overpayments, and avoid most of them in the first place. Would this not save more than is proposed to be taken from the sick and disabled? P Davidson Falkirk YOUR leader of July 12 covers criticism of BBC Scotland for giving a prime slot to the 'small boats' story. Fair enough, but this never-ending immigration has (a) economic (b) demographic and (c) security repercussions here. READ MORE: BBC slated for pushing small boat crossings as top Scottish story To (a): Scots taxpayers have to stump up for accommodation and other costs; to (b): our population is now in overshoot due to increasing immigration by English folk, some of whom have moved from towns in which they no longer feel at home; and to (c): the security implications of the Channel being a barn door are huge. If I wished to avenge Gaza, I'd be smuggling in my people carrying phials of biotoxins, dirty bombs, etc etc, to be used anywhere in the UK (remember Glasgow Airport?). George Morton Rosyth
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Telegraph
Farage beats Starmer in every respect except one, poll finds
Voters believe Nigel Farage is better than Sir Keir Starmer in almost every respect, but is less honest than him, according to a new poll. The Reform UK leader is seen as being more in touch with ordinary people, paying greater attention to detail and being a stronger leader than the Prime Minister. A new survey by Ipsos asked respondents to say whether they felt certain positive characteristics applied to Sir Keir, Mr Farage or Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader. The Reform leader came out on top in every question, apart from when voters had to say which of the leaders they believed was an 'honest person'. It comes as Reform continues to surge in the polls, with Ipsos finding that the party is ahead of Labour and the Conservatives. The party exceeded expectations at the local elections in May, when they gained over 600 councillors and seized the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby from Labour. More than 50 per cent of voters said that Mr Farage had 'a lot of personality', compared to just 21 per cent saying the same of the Prime Minister. Thirty seven per cent said that they felt Mr Farage was a capable leader, and 41 per cent said they would describe him as a strong leader, compared to just 31 per cent and 26 per cent for Sir Keir. But a third of respondents said that the Prime Minister was honest, compared to 29 per cent for Mr Farage. Sir Keir suffered the biggest fall in approval rating after winning an election of any prime minister in the modern era, despite his landslide 174-seat majority. Despite the vast number of Labour MPs, ministers have struggled to pass key legislation because of the discontent on their backbenches. The largest rebellion of the Prime Minister's career meant that he was forced to back down on several elements of his welfare reforms, eradicating billions in planned savings. Other policies that have attracted particularly widespread criticism include the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners, which the Chancellor had to partly reverse. The new polling also found that just a quarter of people believe that Rachel Reeves will still be the Chancellor by the next general election. The number of voters who think that Sir Keir understands the problems facing Britain has fallen by 18 per cent since the general election last year. The latest poll also found that voters narrowly judged Mr Farage to be 'good in a crisis' at 27 per cent, compared to 26 per cent for Sir Keir. Mrs Badenoch received just 18 per cent.
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'I deliver emergency food parcels and have seen the look in parents' eyes'
Labour MP Chris Webb has said he has had parents break down in tears to him over being unable to feed their kids as he called for the two-child benefit limit to be scrapped The Labour MP for Blackpool South has said he has had parents break down in tears to him over being unable to feed their kids as he called for the two-child benefit limit to be scrapped. Chris Webb has ramped up the pressure on Keir Starmer after official stats this week showed nearly 1.7million kids are affected by the Tory-era policy. He said families in his area are skipping meals, kids are missing school and children are growing up in temporary accommodation and 'overcrowded, damp and unsafe houses'. 'The very basics – school shoes, formula milk, heating – are now luxuries many can't afford,' he said. 'I delivered emergency food parcels for families in crisis and still do. I've looked parents in the eye as they broke down in tears, ashamed they couldn't feed their children. 'And I've seen the demand spiral beyond anything we ever imagined. Food banks were meant to be a stopgap – they've become a lifeline.' Mr Webb called for the removal of the two-child benefit limit, which he described as 'a policy that has punished parents for the size of their family.' He praised the Government's expansion of free school meals to all children whose families are in receipt of Universal Credit. But he urged it to consider extending it to all children, saying 'universal provision would ensure no child goes hungry during the school day'. The Mirror is campaigning for all primary school children in England to have access to free school meals. Elsewhere Mr Webb urged ministers to be ambitious in its child poverty strategy, which is due to be published in autumn. 'We cannot afford another strategy that tinkers at the edges or repackages old ideas,' he said. Many Labour MPs oppose the two-child limit, which could become a new focal point for tensions between backbenchers and Downing Street. The policy, introduced in 2017, restricts claims for Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit to the first two children. On Thursday, DWP figures showed 1,665,540 children living in the households in England, Wales and Scotland were affected by the limit in April 2025, an increase of almost 40,000 - 37,150 - compared to the same time last year. Children's charities say the policy pushes 109 children across the UK into poverty every day. Ditching the police would lift 350,000 children out of poverty and mean 700,000 children are in less deep poverty, according to estimates from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson last weekend(SUN) said axing the two-child benefit is still on the table, with the Government's child poverty strategy looking at 'every lever' to lift children out of hardship. But she admitted removing the policy would be harder to do after a major climbdown on the Government's welfare cuts, which has left a £5billion hole in Rachel Reeves's spending plans. Ms Phillipson said: "The decisions that have been taken in the last week do make decisions, future decisions harder. But all of that said, we will look at this collectively in terms of all of the ways that we can lift children out of poverty." A Government spokesman said: 'Children in Blackpool and across the UK should have the best start in life. The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.' They pointed to action to roll out a national network of family hubs for children across the country as well as expanding free school meals and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
