Danny Kruger’s defection to Reform is seismic. Probably about 8 on the Richter scale. As far as I can make out, nobody saw it coming. Certainly, his name was not on the defections radar, which commentators and hacks now beam over Westminster at regular intervals.
The importance of his defection lies not in his being the first sitting Conservative MP to defect in this parliament but in the reputation he has at Westminster, which is as a serious thinker and policy analyst and certainly not as a populist.
In his remarks at the press conference, announcing his floor crossing, he spoke movingly of the torch of conservatism being passed on to a new party, and that, I suspect, will resonate with many an ordinary voter now dithering about tearing up old loyalties.
A former MP, Robert Buckland, who now lives in Kruger’s constituency, makes the usual call for Kruger to resign and call a by-election.
Reform's latest defection is an eight on the Richter scale. This is a political earthquake - Ann Widdecombe | Getty Images
That is nonsense. There have been numerous examples of MPs crossing the floor without any by-election, and for a very good reason. In this country, we are electing an individual MP, not a party.
Of course, it is true that most people vote primarily for a party, but if that is taken to its logical conclusion, then we might as well move to a party list system, such as was used in this country for the elections to the European Parliament.
Then people really do vote for a party, and it is the party which decides who their MP will be. It is the only election in which I have stood when I have known that I was going to be elected before rather than after the count.
If we want MPs to be accountable, then the election has to be for them and not their party HQs.The importance of the Kruger floor-cross also lies in what Nigel Farage has tasked him with: preparing for government.
Any new party will always face the perception that it cannot rule without solid experience, and it is now down to Kruger to make us look ready for running the country, having both convincing policies and convincing personnel.
Another, rather overlooked, aspect of the matter is that Kruger is also a fervent Christian who has worked among the marginalised, and therefore it will be difficult to portray him as heartless, racist or driven by hate.
Nevertheless, I was a bit bemused when I joined him in a debate about socialism at The Great Disputation, probably about a year ago. (That is a theological debate going back centuries.)
Obviously, he and I made common cause, and I am glad to say we won, but in the course of the disputation, he, then a Conservative MP, said that Heaven would undeniably be socialist!!
I observed in my then-Express column that if a Tory MP was looking forward to a socialist Heaven, no wonder their party was in such a state! That frivolity aside, I am happy to be working with him towards a Reform victory at the General Election.