Former Tory chairman DEFECTS to Reform as he issues major 'last chance' warning over Britain's decline

The former Northern Powerhouse minister said the Tories had "lost their way" as he left the party after 25 years.

In a statement shared by his new party, Berry wrote: "For 25 years, I was proud to call myself a Conservative.

Fourteen of those years, I served as an MP. I even sat at the Cabinet table twice. I believed in it. I gave it everything. Because I believed politics could still make this country better."

He continued: "But let’s not kid ourselves. Britain is broken. It didn’t start with Labour. The Conservative Governments I was part of share the blame."

“We now have a tax system that punishes hard work and ambition. Just this week, we saw record numbers of our brightest and best people leaving Britain because they can’t see a future here.

"At the same time, our benefits system is pulling in the world’s poor with no plan for integration and no control over who comes in.

"If you were deliberately trying to wreck the country, you’d be hard-pressed to do a better job than the last two decades of Labour and Tory rule.

"Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again. The only way we get that is with Reform in Government.

"That’s why I’ve resigned from the Conservative Party.

"I’m now backing Reform UK and working to make them the next party of Government."

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF BERRY'S DEFECTION? CLICK HERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE COMMENTS

Berry concluded: "And with Nigel Farage leading Reform, we’ve got someone the country can actually trust. He doesn’t change his views to fit the mood of the day. And people respect that. So do I. That’s why I believe he should be our next Prime Minister."

"If we want to fix this country, it’s time to be bold again. It’s time to believe again. It’s time for Reform."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage celebrated the win by reposting the news on his social media account.

The MP for Clacton wrote: "A very brave decision by Jake Berry to join Reform UK. His admission that the Conservative Government he was part of broke the country is unprecedented and principled."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• ‘Freedom of speech?!’ GB News' Dougie Beattie wades into row over migrant effigy on loyalist bonfire
• Rosie Duffield tells Martin the real reason she left the Labour Party as latest trans row erupts
• Starmer sparks fears of new stealth tax as 'millions of pensioners face levy for first time ever'

Berry is the second ex-Conservative Cabinet minister in three days to have jumped ship in a hammer blow to Kemi Badenoch.

Former Welsh Secretary David Jones switched to Nigel Farage's populist Party on Monday.

Their moves could see more mainstream Tories flooding to join the turquoise tidewave, as a recent opinion poll suggests that Reform UK would be the largest party if a General Election were held today.

Some projections suggest the Tories will win only 46 seats at the next election.

Berry's warning that Reform UK were the "last chance to pull Britain back from terminal decline" echoes similar rhetoric to Farage.

During his time in parliament, Berry held several ministerial offices, including in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Energy and Climate Change and the Cabinet Office at Cabinet Level.

The former MP told the Sun: "Our streets are completely lawless. Migration is out of control. Taxes are going through the roof.

"And day after day, I hear from people in my community and beyond who say the same thing: ‘This isn’t the Britain I grew up in’."

DO YOU AGREE WITH BERRY THAT MIGRATION IS OUT OF CONTROL? CLICK HERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

Responding to Jake Berry defecting to Reform UK, a Labour Party spokesman 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.

"Only our Labour Government is putting more money in people’s pockets, boosting British jobs, and delivering the renewal our country needs through our Plan for Change."

Speaking to GB News, Jonathan Gullis said: "I’m sorry to see another ex-colleague of mine join Reform UK, but also understandable.

"I was out there during the local elections. There's not enough understanding of what conservatives in 2025 even stands for, so our leader has to really roll up her sleeves and work much harder to actually give people some hope.

"I’ve been a member for the whole of my adult life of the Conservative Party, and I never felt so despondent about it. However, I do think that Reform had a very shaky time since the local elections, I think a bit of arrogance has crept in.

"I think a bit of off messaging, a lot of internal fighting. So this will currently come as a huge sigh of relief for Reform UK, the first bit of good news they've had since the locals and we will see if they can buck their ideas up."

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform support increasing the benefits bill by removing the two-child cap, and nationalising British industry.

"By contrast the Conservatives, under new leadership, will keep making the case for sound money, lower taxes and bringing the welfare bill under control. We wish Jake well in his new high spend, high tax party.”

A Tory source added. “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.”