Nigel Farage has suggested there "will be more" Conservative defections to his party, following the move by former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.
Speaking to GB News, the Reform UK leader praised Ms Dorries's experience in the political sphere and "at the sharp end" of "how it all works".
Sitting down with GB News Political Correspondent Katherine Forster, Mr Farage admitted the party's "biggest weakness" following the first day of the Reform UK conference.
He explained: "I made very clear on the stage yesterday that our biggest weakness is a lack of experience.
The Reform UK leader sat down with GB News following the first day of his party's annual conference
|GB NEWS
"We don't lack energy, we don't lack enthusiasm, we don't lack good people from all walks of life coming forward and wanting to be involved. But we don't know how it actually works.
Highlighting the party's addition of Nadine Dorries, Mr Farage teased: "And therefore, we need people who've been at the sharp end, who've worked in Cabinet, who understand what the interactions with the civil service are like.
"And Nadine Dorries is the first person that's come to us that's got that experience, and there will be more."
Pressed by Katherine on whether he is concerned that Reform UK could become "stuck full of conservatives that no longer have seats", Mr Farage disagreed.
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He stated: "I think you'll find the percentage of former Conservative representatives in Reform is less than half a per cent, so I'm not terribly worried about that, no. And we will not be the Conservative Party 2.0.
"I think what she said was very interesting, she'd been with the party thirty years, she'd served for many years as an MP, but like so many people, she feels now that the promises that were made in election manifestos were never sincere promises, they were just means of getting elected. And that's the difference here, we mean what we say."
Highlighting the Reform leader's recent war on free speech in the US, Katherine quizzed Mr Farage on his absence from the latest Prime Minister's Questions and Keir Starmer's subsequent criticism of his decision.
Hitting out at PMQs, Mr Farage fumed: "You know what, there is almost no point me going to PMQs. There’s almost no point. I have to sit there, take a piece every week, and I have no means of answering. It's ridiculous.
Nigel Farage admitted that Reform UK's 'biggest weakness' is a 'lack of experience'
|GB NEWS
"There can't ever have been a situation as before when you have a backbench member of Parliament who was constantly referred to by put-up questions from Labour MPs, answers from the Prime Minister, and what do I get?
"Once every few months, I can get up to 30 seconds. And when I do, I am shouted down. So actually Parliament, frankly at the moment, doesn't serve me very well."
Hitting out at free speech laws in Britain, Mr Farage concluded that the UK goes "way too far" in restricting free speech.
He told GB News: "I actually think that there's a realistic chance that the Americans and American companies will have a sensible conversation with the British Government, and there are now all sorts of voices in public life saying that the Online Safety Act and much of the other legislation goes way too far in restricting free speech.
"And frankly, after what's happened to the Irish comic writer Graham Linehan, any American businessman could now be arrested at Heathrow. That's serious. Do we want Americans investing in Britain or not?"