{"id":256910,"date":"2026-01-29T02:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T02:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256910\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T02:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T02:45:10","slug":"not-surprised-at-all-fareham-voters-size-up-suella-bravermans-reform-switch-suella-braverman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256910\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not surprised at all\u2019: Fareham voters size up Suella Braverman\u2019s Reform switch | Suella Braverman"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Jamie Jewell, the pub owner at the Golden Lion, there has been radio silence from his local MP, Suella Braverman<\/a>. In January last year, the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville visited the pub, offered to help the owners with removing a protected tree that was damaging the property, and posted photos with the staff on her Facebook page and for local media.<\/p>\n

Jewell has not heard back from her since. \u201cI\u2019ve sent emails saying \u2018we need support here\u2019 and never received a response. Not even an acknowledgment,\u201d Jewell said.<\/p>\n

At a Reform UK event in London this week, Braverman made a surprise appearance and announced her defection<\/a> from the Conservative party. \u201cI feel as if I\u2019ve come home,\u201d she told the audience.<\/p>\n

Jewell said he had no interest in Braverman\u2019s future endeavours. \u201cI don\u2019t want her in my pub. She\u2019s not helped us at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jamie Jewell at the Golden Lion in Fareham town centre. Photograph: Sam Frost\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Braverman, who was Rishi Sunak\u2019s home secretary from 2022-23 and gained a reputation as an opportunistic political operator with a keen sense of how to get traction on the right, has been the MP here since 2015.<\/p>\n

Fareham is a market town north-west of Portsmouth harbour, in Hampshire<\/a>. The constituency has been a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1885. It was reformed into Gosport and Fareham in 1950, and again into Fareham and Waterlooville in 2024, when Braverman last won her seat.<\/p>\n

Roy Gillingham, the owner of Fareham Wine Cellar, said he was \u201cnot surprised at all\u201d by Braverman\u2019s decision. \u201cShe\u2019s very much more in tune with what Reform is doing.\u201d He said Braverman regularly bought wine from his business for Conservative party meetings. \u201cShe stands good and hard for local people. That\u2019s more important than what party she belongs to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018She stands good and hard for local people,\u2019 says wine seller Roy Gillingham. Photograph: Sam Frost\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

He voted for Braverman in 2024 and would do so again. \u201cThe fact she\u2019s gone over to Reform makes no difference. She\u2019s still the same person. We can all change. I might vote Labour next time, I might vote Conservative. You vote for the person,\u201d Gillingham said.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Fareham, reaction to the defection was mixed. Graham Cull, 68, has always voted Conservative and was disappointed by Braverman\u2019s choice, but he said: \u201cI can understand why she\u2019s doing it. The Conservatives<\/a> are in disarray at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue Cox, 70, said it was \u201cquite alarming\u201d. She believed Braverman had made a \u201cgut reaction\u201d due to her unhappiness with the Conservative party. \u201cBut is the alternative the right alternative?\u201d she said. \u201cThat is the biggest worry, if you vote somebody in who\u2019s an unknown. And let\u2019s face it, Nigel Farage changes his tune like the weather, doesn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue and Mick Cox in the town centre. Photograph: Sam Frost\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Paul Holmes, a neighbouring Conservative MP to Braverman\u2019s constituency, said his working relationship with Braverman had faded since the 2017 general election. After her defection, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t pick up the phone to Suella,\u201d he said. \u201cShe hadn\u2019t told any of her colleagues, her staff, her constituency association, which I think is highly disrespectful and discourteous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmes said he had received several messages from constituents asking him not to switch to Reform as well. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of new party members since Suella left, stating they didn\u2019t like the politics of Suella.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, the local council leader, Simon Martin, said the defection was \u201cunderstandably disappointing, especially after very recently providing assurances to me that this would not happen\u201d. He said: \u201cWe feel let down not only with the defection, but also that no prior indication was given to the Conservative group of her intentions. This lack of consideration particularly hurts the many team members who canvassed on her behalf as a Conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manuel Martins, the chair of the Fareham and Waterlooville Conservative association, said the move had come as \u201cboth a surprise and a huge disappointment\u201d because of \u201cassurances and recent reassurances\u201d from Braverman.<\/p>\n

Dave Acheson: \u2018There should be another byelection.\u2019 Photograph: Sam Frost\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Dave Acheson, 37, does not vote Conservative. When he saw the news on Bluesky, he said, he found the move \u201cnakedly self-interested\u201d and predictable. \u201cI just thought it\u2019s another rat leaving the sinking ship. Let\u2019s hope she\u2019s going to another sinking ship.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI despise her and everything she stands for, and the way she uses demonisation to get ahead in politics. I just think it\u2019s sickening.\u201d He believed Braverman should have stepped down as MP after switching loyalties. \u201cThere should be a rule that says if you change parties, there should be another byelection.\u201d<\/p>\n

His brother Michael chimed in: \u201cChurchill famously switched parties and had to stand for a byelection. So there\u2019s historical precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuella Braverman is no Churchill,\u201d Dave replied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Jamie Jewell, the pub owner at the Golden Lion, there has been radio silence from his local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-256910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}