Reform UK members split on Tory defection deluge after Nigel Farage unveils Nadine Dorries

However, GB News detected a mixed response from Reform UK members hovering around the NEC in Birmingham.

While Lee Anderson has become a household name, other defectors might need to prove their worth before being fully accepted by Reform's 240,000 members.

James Mainwaring, a young Reform UK member from the South West of England, told GB News: "I imagine a lot more will come over in the next few years, but whether we want them is another question.

"We don't want to turn into another succession of the Tory Party."

Mr Mainwaring, a former Tory member who accused the Conservative Party of abandoning its core principles, added: "I think we should say no to people like Liz Truss, people like [Jacob] Rees-Mogg, who are more like arch Tories, are perhaps better outside the party."

Meanwhile, Beaconsfield branch chair Sarah Coetzee told the People's Channel that Mr Farage should not accept ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Ms Coetzee said: "I don't think I'd want Boris Johnson to join. As much as he's as charismatic as he is, he flip-flops."

However, Ms Coetzee was not opposed to more ex-Tory MPs joining Reform UK.

She said: "There should be a limit. We need experience, like Nigel Farage said, but this is also a grassroots movement.

"There are a lot of people, like myself, who have been there for not too long, but we need them and we need experienced people like Nadine Dorries."

Ms Coetzee also suggested Mr Farage should make room for ex-Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel.

Despite being pals with Mr Farage, Dame Priti's record on legal and illegal migration has been much-criticised by Reform UK's high command.

GB News this morning revealed that Ms Dorries's defection dealt Mr Johnson's faint hopes of a return as Tory leader a major blow.

Mr Johnson's closest allies have jumped ship to Reform UK over the past few months, with Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Sir Jake Berry playing key roles in the former Prime Minister's stint in No10.

Terry Washington, who was once a swing voter and is now a Reform UK member in Putney, described ex-Tory MPs as being on the "outskirts waiting to come in".

"I think they all will come in," he added. "It's just about timing, but the nearer we get to the General Election in 2029, or earlier, as Nigel predicts, I think they will come over."

However, Mr Washington was supportive of Mr Farage opening the door to experienced ex-MPs who could serve in a Reform Cabinet.

After Mr Farage unveiled Ms Dorries at the NEC, the ex-Mid Bedfordshire MP told GB News: "I've decided that now is the time for me to come to the aid of the Reform Party and to pledge the loyalty I pledge to Boris and to the Conservatives to Reform, because there is a job to do.

"And Reform is the only party with answers to some of the really serious problems we're facing, whether it's law and order, illegal migration, that they've got serious answers to serious problems, no one else has."

However, ex-Tory MP Jonathan Gullis, who was attending Reform UK's conference in a commercial capacity, also urged Mr Farage against accepting a deluge of defectors.

He said: "Nigel is building a coalition, even within the Conservative Party. The thing for Reform is that they have to be very careful about how broad they want that coalition to go.

"The reason that the Conservative Party fell apart was because it became a broad church with no religion. It's really important for Reform to think about these ex-MPs, especially their intentions and whether they're believers in the cause."

Reform UK figures have dismissed speculation that all Tories will be embraced into Mr Farage's inner circle.

"Reform has no room for deadbeat, failed Tories," a senior Reform UK source told GB News. "They ruined the country. Reform is the future."

Speaking in July after the defection of Tory Senedd Member Laura Anne Jones, Mr Farage added: "If people are coming to Reform because they see it, simply, as the best life raft for their political careers, then I'm not interested.

"But if they're coming to Reform because they really believe in what we're trying to do, they really believe that our country is in deep and desperate trouble, and it needs to be turned around, and they want to be part of that project, and them coming to us adds [to that project], then the door is open."