REVEALED: Three top Tories put on Reform ‘defection watch’ as pollster tips one Conservative to take on Nigel Farage

Reform UK has already courted a number of disaffected Conservatives - including now Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns and ex-Dudley MP Marco Longhi.

Ashfield MP Lee Anderson ultimately kickstarted the deluge last year, quitting the Tories ahead of Reform UK's breakthrough in the 2024 General Election.

More than 60 Reform UK candidates in the 2025 Local Elections had also previously been card-carrying Conservatives - with Sarah Pochin's success in Runcorn & Helsby being seen as a symbol of Farage's ability to win over ex-Tories.

Earlier this year, GB News revealed that Reform UK had been attracting Tory bigwigs courtesy of Farage's existing relationships with veteran Brexiteers.

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf told the People's Channel: “We have seen huge growth in those seeking to defect to Reform, despite no outreach efforts. This is because they can see Reform is finally breaking the two old parties’ stranglehold on British politics and are willing to stand up for British people.”

A Reform UK source added: “They’re coming to us. We’re not going to take everyone but they’re just as fed up as the country is.”

But with Farage's political crusades - both at Ukip and Reform UK - being propelled by defections, GB News has been taking a look at the three big names on CCHQ's defection watch list.

• Ex-Olympic boxer seals Reform’s second mayoral win after trumping Labour, Tories and Lib Dems
• Andrea Jenkyns unleashes furious tirade at rivals as Reform secures first mayoral victory
• 'They won't exist!' Farage predicts Tory destruction as Reform rules out 'Unite the Right' deal

Suella Braverman

Age: 45

Experience: Ex-Home Secretary

Majority: 6,079 in Fareham & Waterlooville

Brexit: Leave

Political faction: European Research Group

Suella Braverman has refused to rule out defecting to Reform UK for some time.

The ex-Home Secretary, whose husband Rael switched to the populist party last year, highlighted the "common ground" shared by many Tory MPs and those enlisted into Reform's ranks in January.

With a merger between Reform and the Tories looking further and further away, Braverman is considered the most likely Conservative to jump ship.

But speculation about Braverman crossing the floor dates back long before her husband's switch.

Speaking shortly after the 2024 General Election, the Fareham & Waterlooville MP said: "I hope I'm not driven out to Reform by my colleagues."

Such a move would give Farage a lot to smile about, with the high-profile Fareham & Waterlooville MP landing a hammer blow to Kemi Badenoch.

Despite Badenoch arranging Braverman's hen night in 2018, the pair were locked in a bitter spat during the 2024 Tory Party leadership race.

In the Tories' first Shadow Cabinet meeting after the General Election, Badenoch appeared to suggest Braverman had a "very public" nervous breakdown for making public attacks on the party during the election campaign.

And Braverman would also ensure Farage can double-down on his rejection of Reform UK having a "woman problem", with Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Sarah Pochin's successes last week showing "girl power" had helped propel the turquoise tidal wave.

• 'Why would Reform even want Suella?' We explore whether Braverman will join the 4 million revolt and join Farage
• ‘She didn’t have the numbers!’ Inside Braverman’s decision to ‘pull out’ of Tory leadership race
• Suella Braverman’s husband appears to set deadline for wife to defect to Reform

Sir Edward Leigh

Age: 74

Experience: Father of the House

Majority: 3,532 in Gainsborough

Brexit: Leave

Political faction: Common Sense Group

"We've got to, I think, invite Reform voters and Farage to join us," Sir Edward Leigh said in the aftermath of the 2024 General Election.

In fact, the Father of the House went further by suggesting the Clacton MP could stand to lead the Conservative Party.

Leigh, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 1983, has continued to defy Kemi Badenoch by demanding a closer relationship with Farage.

Speaking in February, the Tory veteran told GB News that the odds of a merger or deal with Farage stood at 70 per cent.

Despite Badenoch repeatedly ruling out any friendly arrangement with Farage, Leigh also stopped short of throwing his weight behind the Tory leader.

When asked if Badenoch would lead the Tories into the next General Election, Leigh said: “I have no idea. I wish her well. But I have to say going back in history we did burn through three leaders after we lost badly in 1997 before we got to one who won.

“So, whoever is leader at the moment, and by the way if Robert Jenrick had won people would be criticising him and saying he is a Tory boy, he is out of touch.

“So who knows who is going to lead us into the next [election] but I wish her well.”

Jack Rankin

Age: 32

Experience: Fresh-faced Tory

Majority: 6,457 in Windsor

Brexit: Leave

Political faction: Conservative Migration Critic

Windsor MP Jack Rankin is quickly emerging as a new member of the Tory Right leaving his mark in the House of Commons.

The 32-year-old has made some rather contrite admissions about Conservative failures, particularly on immigration.

Writing for Conservative Home shortly after being elected, Rankin said: "The truth is staring us all in the face – we had the reasons shouted at us over and over again on the doorsteps during many brutal months of campaigning. We lost because we repeatedly failed to deliver what we promised in 2019.

"We said that we would secure our borders and cut immigration, and we did the opposite."

Rankin also raised eyebrows by signing ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe's motion calling for the mass deportation of illegal migrants.

The Windsor MP did stress Lowe's proposal remains Tory Party policy but interestingly has seemingly decided to stop short of joining other fresh-faced Conservatives in being overly critical of Reform UK.

Can anyone stop Reform UK? Nigel Farage's familiar foe tipped to pull off the unthinkable

With The Sunday Times revealing that Tory donors, MPs and ex-aides have been plotting over the Bank Holiday weekend to dethrone Kemi Badenoch, one pollster has put his head above the parapet to put forward the name of the one Conservative who might be up to the task of taking on Nigel Farage.

While Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick is the name on everyone's lips, More in Common's executive director Luke Tryl identified the Conservative who is the main threat to Reform UK - despite not being a Member of Parliament.

The 60-year-old Conservative, who is perhaps just as much of a marmite figure as Farage, still curries great levels of support among particularly Brexit-backing voters.

After spending the past two years outside of the House of Commons swatting away comeback rumours with analogy-ridden non-answers, many Tories appear to consider Boris Johnson as the Conservatives' best-bet of avoiding political extinction.

Tryl said: “The only Conservative politician who could muster affection was Boris Johnson. Some cannot forgive him for partygate, but among those who had switched from the Tories to Reform UK there was a sense that Johnson was the only Tory who 'got it' and could speak to them.

“The problem with other would-be replacements is they risk suffering from a Ron DeSantis problem [the former Florida Governor who failed to beat Donald Trump in the Republican primaries]. They may hit the right-wing notes, but in a way that lacks a real human connection with the electorate that Farage undoubtedly enjoys with many.”

• REVEALED: 2.7 million voters up for grabs if Boris completes comeback and how it could punish Reform
• Johnson 'comeback' plot leaves Farage facing 'huge threat' as Tory 'trump card' could sink Reform UK
• Boris refuses to rule out comeback as Tory leadership hopeful opens door to ex-PM’s return

Senior figures in Reform UK remain particularly scathing about Johnson, with Zia Yusuf and Nigel Farage both swiping at the former Prime Minister over his handling of Brexit and stint in No10.

Farage has voiced his particular frustrations about how Johnson's Tories treated the Brexit Party ahead of the 2019 General Election.

Speaking ahead of the 2024 General Election, Farage said: “It was bribery. It was corruption on the most extraordinary level. And those that know me when this offer was made said they’d never heard me shout so loudly. I was that angry at total corruption.”

Johnson denied Farage's claim, adding: “I didn’t do any deal.”

Earlier this year, GB News heard from insiders about how Johnson remains the Tory Party's trump card to thwarting Farage.

A Johnson loyalist told GB News: “In private, the bigwigs in Reform understand and respect the threat from Boris."

Another added: “Without Boris in the mix, Farage makes most politicians look bland, shifty and pointless.

“Boris has more charisma, connection and vision than Farage, so - naturally - Reform would be horrified and rightly terrified if he was back in play."

However, Johnson looked to give Badenoch a slight boost after her 2025 Local Elections disaster.

Writing for The Daily Mail, the former Prime Minister said: "In fact, I would say that on the basis of these results, the Tories under Kemi Badenoch have a good and growing chance of winning the next election. That is because the results reveal the first and most important condition for a Tory victory – the extreme vulnerability of the Labour Government."

Despite Johnson's warm words about Badenoch, a number of political commentators advised people to "read between the lines" amid growing calls for the ex-Prime Minister to find his way back to the frontline.

And refusing to rule out a comeback last year, Johnson told GB News: "As I used to say, and I repeat, the chances of my mounting a come back, getting back into into No10, are about as good as my chances of being reincarnated as an olive, or decapitated by a frisbee, or being locked in a disused fridge, or blinded by a champagne cork."