Caulfield – who lost her seat to the Liberal Democrats in 2024 – did actually join the party a month ago but only announced it today.
The former MP for Lewes told GB News: “If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform. The country is going to change a lot.
“The same people who thought that Brexit would not happen think that Reform will not happen. They are in for a shock.”
It’s the latest indication that the Tories are hemorrhaging support to Nigel Farage’s party.
But, it’s worth noting that Caulfield’s change of allegiance is nowhere near as damaging as Kruger’s, who sat on the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s front bench only yesterday.
However, it also feeds into the narrative that Reform could become the Conservatives 2.0 – especially after Kruger announced that Reform bears the “new torch of conservatism”.
Party leader Kemi Badenoch admitted to reporters after the news around Caulfield broke that her party is having a “tough and bumpy time”, but people have to patient for her changes to take hold.
“It’s quite clear that we lost a historic defeat last year. It’s going to take time for us to win back the public trust,” she said.
“There will be some people who won’t be patient and just want to jump to the party that’s doing well in the polls.
“We see that happen last year with Tory MPs jumping to the Labour Party because they were doing well in the polls.
“I’m not going to be distracted by any of that. I’ve got to focus on what is happening in people’s lives right now. And the biggest issue is the economy.”
She also suggested there may be more defections from the Tories “because of poll ratings” or “because they don’t like the new policies”.
“Every leader regrets losing people to another party,” She told GB News. “There may be some people who are impatient. I’m sorry if they’re not willing to wait, and they just want to rush to whatever is looking good right now, but what I’m doing is going to work in the long-term.”
Even so, Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride defended his party after Kruger declared the Conservatives were “over” on Tuesday morning.
He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “I’m sorry to see Danny go, but his analysis is wrong.
“We don’t have an election now for another four years. It is certainly the case that we had a devastating defeat about a year ago, that we lost the connection with the electorate, that trust with the electorate, and it is also true that it will take us time to rebuild that.”
However, he added: “We need to hold our nerve.”
Caulfield has joined a growing list of Tories who no longer sit in parliament to swap sides, including high-profile figures like former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns – who is now Reform’s regional mayor for Greater Lincolnshire – and ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries.
