Boris Johnson's most staunch ally has defected to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party after declaring the "Tory Party is dead".
Nadine Dorries, the former Conservative Culture Secretary, joined up with Reform UK after months of secret negotiations as Mr Farage maps out a path to securing victory in the next General Election.
Ms Dorries explained her shocking decision to The Daily Mail, saying: "The Tory Party is dead".
"It's members now need to think the unthinkable and look to the future," she added.
Mr Farage said he was "absolutely delighted to welcome Nadine Dorries to Reform UK".
"She is a hugely successful politician, author and columnist and will be a great boost to our campaign to win the next General Election," the Reform leader added.
Ms Dorries' defection follows three decades as a Conservative Party member.
It also comes just a day before the start of Reform UK's annual conference in Birmingham.
Nadine Dorries has joined Reform UK | PAMs Dorries will deliver the opening speech.
The defection is considered Reform's biggest coup yet and only adds further fuel to Mr Farage's quest to become Prime Minister.
Reform dominated the political agenda over the summer with the party holding a 15-point lead in the polls.
Ms Dorries spent 18 years as a Tory MP, and since leaving, she became a best-selling novelist.
Nigel Farage said he was 'absolutely delighted to welcome Nadine Dorries to Reform UK'
| GB NewsWhile Reform looks to be in a commanding lead ahead of the next General Election, many have criticised the party's stability and experience.
However, Ms Dorries' defection could change this perception.
The 68-year-old has not yet ruled out a return to the Commons, and her pro-Brexit and anti-immigration views could help her jump to the top of the party's list of selections.
While Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has ruled out any relationship with Reform, Tory frontbencher, Robert Jenrick, has said he would be willing to work with Mr Farage.
Friends of Ms Dorries said she made the move as she believed the Labour Party could fall within two years, according to the Daily Mail.
She also thinks Ms Badenoch would not be able to win a General Election.
The former MP is expected to encourage Mr Farage to reach an agreement with more right-leaning Conservative candidates - similar to standing down his Brexit Party candidates in 2019 to avoid splitting votes and Labour reversing Brexit.
But, Mr Farage argued he was let down by Mr Johnson, saying he "betrayed Brexit".
Ms Dorries is a close ally of Mr Johnson and even publicly claimed he would enter Downing Street years before it actually took place.
It appears as if she has given up hope on him returning to the Tory Party.
A Conservative friend of Ms Dorries said that "the ravens are leaving the tower" in the wake of her defection.
Responding to the news that Nadine Dorries has defected to Reform UK, a Liberal Democrat source said: "We don't know who to feel more sorry for, Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage."
A Labour Party spokesman, responding to Nadine Dorries defecting to Reform UK, said: "Nadine Dorries says the Tory Party is dead - as one of the people who helped to kill it, she should know.
"She backed Boris Johnson through thick and thin despite the partying in Downing Street during the pandemic while people couldn't see their loved ones.
"And now she wants to help unleash the same chaos the Tories inflicted on Britain by joining Nigel Farage’s Reform.
"Nadine Dorries has gone on quite a political journey - from being the minister who introduced the Online Safety Bill to joining a party that wants to scrap it without having any idea how to replace its protections for children and adults.
"It’s a perfect illustration of how incoherent Reform are - all anger, no answers, with contradictions building by the day."