A former Tory armed forces minister has joined Reform UK and delivered a scathing verdict on her former party.
Sarah Atherton, who served as MP for Wrexham for four years from 2019 to 2024, has announced she is joining Nigel Farage's party.
In Parliament, she served as armed forces minister for 37 days after being appointed by Liz Truss.
She had previously resigned as a parliamentary private secretary to the Foreign Office in 2021 over Tory plans to keep sexual offences against female troops tried within military courts.
Writing in the Daily Express on Thursday, Ms Atherton criticised Labour’s "soundbites, shallow reviews and fudged spending figures" but said the Conservatives had failed Britain's Armed Forces.
She said: "After years in Parliament, I came to the same conclusion many soldiers, sailors and aviators already know: the system doesn’t listen. Both Conservatives and Labour have failed Britain’s Armed Forces.
"The Conservatives promised strength but delivered weakness. Troop numbers are at their lowest in modern history.
"Recruitment targets repeatedly missed. Families still housed in damp, mouldy quarters."
Former Wrexham MP Sarah Atherton has joined Nigel Farage's party
|PA
She went on to say she had joined Reform because of its patriotism.
She wrote: "From its inception, Reform has been unashamedly patriotic, built on the core value of Britain first.
"It is the only party fighting to ensure the people’s voices are heard and the only one serious about restoring our Armed Forces."
Ms Atherton will now join other former Tory MPs who have switched to Reform, including Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Nadine Dorries and Adam Holloway.
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Ms Atherton joins Nadine Dorries who also joined Reform UK
| POOLShe continued: "The Navy struggles to crew the ships we have, while the RAF mothballs aircraft faster than it replaces them. I rebelled as a Conservative MP by voting against the Armed Forces Bill.
"It was career-limiting, but the right thing to do. For me, allegiance to King and Country always outweighs blind loyalty."
She was the first Conservative politician to represent the Wrexham constituency since its creation in 1918.
Ms Atherton lost her Wrexham seat at last year's General Election to Labour's Andrew Ranger, who won with a majority of 5,948.
The Former Tory minister joins Reform as she delivers scathing verdict on ex-party
|FLICKR/HOUSE OF COMMONS
At the General Election, Reform UK's Charles Dodman finished in third, with Becca Martin from Plaid Cymru in fourth.
During the Labour Party conference, Defence Secretary John Healey launched a furious attack on Reform and the party's other rivals, claiming Nigel Farage's party "praise Vladimir Putin".
Speaking from Liverpool, the Defence Secretary said: "You know, conference, who won’t back defence jobs? The Scottish nationalists.
"They refused to fund a new advanced welding centre in Glasgow, so I can announce today that the Labour Government now will step in and provide the funding needed – they won’t, we will.
"And what of the other parties? Are they any better on defence?
"The Tories – they left our armed forces hollowed out and underfunded.
"The Lib Dems – they cut the size of the British Army to its smallest since Napoleon.
"And Reform – they praise (Russian president Vladimir) Putin and they put down Nato. Conference, we are the party that created Nato in that great (Clement) Attlee government after the war.
"Now, we’re the party growing jobs and growing the army, the party facing down Russia and strengthening Nato. Conference, Labour is again the party of Britain’s defence."
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