'A Liz Truss Tribute Act': Why Jake Berry's Defection From The Tories Could Backfire On Reform

Jake Berry with Liz Truss during the Tory leadership election in 2022.It was, according to Nigel Farage, a “very brave decision”.The Reform UK leader for full of praise and admiration for Jake Berry, the former Tory chairman who has just defected to his party.Farage was particularly impressed by Berry’s outspoken attack on the record of the Conservative government he served in.Announcing his defection on X, Berry said: “Britain is broken. We literally live in a country where you can’t walk down the street with a phone in your hand.“We have taxes that are so sky high that the brightest and best are leaving our country in droves, while at the same time a benefits system that is bringing the world’s poor to our shores with no control.“If you literally wanted to design a system to destroy a country, you would struggle to do better. And I know who broke it, because I was there.”He certainly was. During his 14 years as the Tory MP for Rossendale and Darwen, Berry served as a minister under no fewer than three prime ministers – Theresa May, his close friend Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.But having lost his seat to Labour at the last election, Berry appears to have had a Damascene conversion and now believes Reform are the UK’s best hope.Unsurprisingly, his former colleagues are less than impressed by his defection.One former Tory cabinet minister told HuffPost UK: “This is driven by personal bitterness about being sacked by Rishi and not getting a seat in the House of Lords.”Meanwhile, a Conservative source told The Spectator: “Ex-MP Jake was briefly party chair under Liz Truss, voted Remain, and is passionate about net zero.“He’s had more positions than the karma sutra, and is now living proof that Reform will take anyone… until they eventually chuck them out.”Berry’s longstanding political opponents were equally critical, zeroing in on his support for Truss’ Tory leadership campaign in 2022, which saw him rewarded with the party chairmanship when she won.It was a position he held for just 49 days after she was forced from office after her disastrous mini-Budget crashed the economy.Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Nigel Farage needs to immediately rule out Liz Truss joining Reform following the defection of yet another one of her mini-Budget buddies.“Reform is looking more like a Truss tribute act every day that goes by. Far from just praising her disastrous mini-Budget as the best thing since sliced bread, Farage is actively recruiting the architects of the economic disaster that left struggling households reeling.”A Labour spokesperson said: “Not content with taking advice from Liz Truss, Nigel Farage has now tempted her Tory Party chairman into his ranks.“It’s clear Farage wants Liz Truss’s reckless economics, which crashed our economy and sent mortgages spiralling, to be Reform’s blueprint for Britain. It’s a recipe for disaster and working people would be left paying the price.”Berry’s defection comes just two days after David Jones, another former Tory minister who backed Truss for PM, also jumped ship to Reform.While Farage is entitled to enjoy the Tories’ discomfort, he will also know that his party needs to unveil a few more Labour defectors if he is to avoid the charge that Reform are little more than Conservatives in turquoise rosettes.If he doesn’t, then his new recruits’ close association with the ever-unpopular Truss will continue to dog him all the way to the next election.Related...Nigel Farage Gets Schooled By Keir Starmer As He Tries To Stir The Brexit PotFarage Urged To 'Come Clean About What He Knew' After Reform MP Quits PartyReform UK Accuse Macron Of 'Outrageous And Deliberate Snub' For Not Meeting Nigel Farage

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'A Liz Truss Tribute Act': Why Jake Berry's Defection From The Tories Could Backfire On Reform

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