Rosindell’s move comes after Robert Jenrick joined Reform on Thursday, hours after being sacked from the shadow cabinet by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who had accused him of plotting to defect.<\/p>\n
The 59-year-old, who was shadow minister for foreign affairs before his resignation, said in a statement on X that the “views and concerns of constituents such as mine in Romford have been consistently ignored for far too long”.<\/p>\n
“Our country has endured a generation of managed decline,” he added. “Radical action is now required to reverse the damaging decisions of the past and to forge a new course for Britain.”<\/p>\n
Rosindell becomes Reform’s seventh MP and the third sitting Conservative MP to join the party, following Danny Kruger and Jenrick.<\/p>\n
This week’s defections mean that – putting aside independent MPs, who do not vote in a block – Reform UK now has the joint fifth biggest party grouping in the Commons, alongside Sinn Fein which does not send any of its seven MPs to Westminster. <\/p>\n
It is two MPs behind the fourth biggest party, the SNP.<\/p>\n
About 20 former Tory MPs have switched their allegiance to Reform UK, including former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who did so a week ago.<\/p>\n
Shadow Welsh secretary Mims Davies told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour that Conservative MPs defecting to Reform were “self-serving and completely wrong”.<\/p>\n
“I do find this very confusing that these people who are saying they want to put things right, want to be right-wing, but ultimately there’s a lot in Reform which is very left-wing and obviously populist,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I really don’t think that arguing that Britain is failing helps people. People want to know, yes things are wrong but the people they’ve elected are willing to roll up their sleeves and get themselves up to what needs to be fixing rather than looking self-serving.”<\/p>\n
Rosindell has held the Romford seat in east London since 2001, although his majority was cut from 17,893 to just 1,463 at the last general election.<\/p>\n