Suella
makes the ultimate sacrifice as she ditches Tories for Reform
John
Crace
Most of
those at Monday’s event had to remind themselves that Braverman hadn’t defected
long ago
Mon 26
Jan 2026 17.25 GMT
That
noise? The sound of the barrel getting scraped. Only last summer, Reform
insiders were briefing the rightwing media that the party would never welcome
Suella Braverman into its ranks. Too much baggage. Too out of control. Reform
wasn’t a convalescent home for disgraced and failed Tory MPs. Surely not?
Heaven forbid.
So it was
only a matter of time before the MP forced to resign from Liz Truss’s cabinet
as home secretary for breaking the ministerial code – imagine the shame of
being sacked by Liz – and then fired by Rishi Sunak for criticising Scotland
Yard’s policing of protests was welcomed by Nigel Farage. Let’s face it: if
Kemi Badenoch weren’t already leader of the Tory party, she’d almost certainly
be next in line to defect.
“I feel
like I’ve come home,” said Suella. And in a sense she had. There are now more
members of the Truss cabinet in Reform than there are in Kemi’s shadow team.
This after Nige had hijacked what had been intended as a rally for military
veterans to welcome her on stage. Nige just can’t help himself. There again, he
might have welcomed the distraction. Farage is on dodgy ground trying to
champion veterans’ causes after his close mate Donald Trump personally insulted
British service personnel last week. Someone might have got round to asking why
the Reform leader so admires the US president.
It was
the surprise that wasn’t a surprise. The most undramatic drama from Reform yet.
The stunt that bombed. Most people in the east London hall had to remind
themselves that Braverman hadn’t already defected long ago. She was Reform long
before Reform even existed. An accident waiting to happen.
Suella
then set about winning over hearts and minds. In her own very special way. You
have put your lives on the line, she said to the vets. Out of love for your
country. And she knew what that was like. Because in her own way she had put
her own life on the line out of love for her country. All this without a trace
of embarrassment. She really does believe she has also been in the frontline
with bullets being fired. “I spent the night in Norway once,” she added. So she
could easily have served in the Arctic.
Strangely,
given that earlier we had heard from an SAS veteran about the levels of
homelessness among ex-servicemen and women, Braveman neglected to remind the
audience that she considered rough sleeping to be a lifestyle choice. Surely
this was the time for the politician who has always prided herself on straight
talking to tell it like it is. Stop feeling sorry for yourself because you
haven’t got a roof over your head. Just pretend you are bivouacking behind
enemy lines as you try to avoid capture.
Next
Suella moved on to her parents. Her dad had been expelled from Kenya and sought
refuge in the UK. Her mum had come from Mauritius. This must never be allowed
to happen again. Even the grateful ones must go. Everywhere you looked there
were far too many immigrants. Britain was broken. People were terrified to walk
the streets. It was a war of attrition. The country was no longer recognisably
British.
With no
sense of irony, Suella segued seamlessly into a discourse on loyalty. A virtue
along with honesty that was to be prized above all others. Except everyone got
a free pass on these if they were members of the Tory party. What you really
had to remember is that she had been living a lie.
She had
been trying to be a good Tory MP but she just hadn’t been able to stop herself
from rubbishing her friends. Which is why in the greatest act of self-sacrifice
and loyalty imaginable, she was resigning the Tory whip. And she knew that some
in her Fareham and Waterlooville constituency would be upset. But really she
wasn’t that bothered. Certainly not enough to call a byelection. This was all
about her and her ambition. This was her moment to shine. Robert Jenrick was
last week’s news. And Andrew Rossindell hadn’t even been worthy of his own
press conference. Too many awkward questions. Too many “no comment” answers.
Suella
ended with a long attack on the Tories. “We failed you,” she said. Though by
we, she meant everyone except her. So not we; they. Even though she had been
attorney general and home secretary, she had been responsible for nothing. Her
sackings were portrayed as some kind of personal triumph. A sign of integrity.
She had tried her best and everything that had gone wrong was someone else’s
fault. The fact that immigration had risen to record levels on her watch was
nothing to do with her. Nige will need to keep a close eye on her. She is a
politician you would do well not to trust.
That just
left Farage to do the final bits of housekeeping. He was sure the veterans
wouldn’t mind having their rally totally upstaged. They were used to taking
orders and being treated badly. Start as you mean to go on. He was the general,
they were the grunts. And defections were so much more exciting. Though he was
beginning to wonder if you can have too much of a good thing. Still, it was too
late for quality control. Reform had long since morphed into the very worst of
the Tories.
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