Europe

Ex-British home secretary defects to populist Reform UK party

'I feel like I've come home,' says Suella Braverman, who earlier came under fire for calling pro-Palestine rallies 'hate marches'​​​​

Burak Bir  | 26.01.2026 - Update : 26.01.2026
Ex-British home secretary defects to populist Reform UK party

LONDON

Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday defected to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.

Braverman, who served as home secretary from Sep. 6, 2022, to Oct. 19, 2022, and again from Oct. 25, 2022, to Nov. 13, 2023, has become the latest high-profile lawmaker to join Farage's right-wing populist Reform UK party.

Her defection came after former shadow justice secretary and former immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, defected to Reform UK on Jan. 15.

Speaking at a Reform UK event, Braverman said: "I feel like I've come home."

"Today I am announcing that I resign the Conservative whip and my party membership of thirty years, and because I believe with my heart and soul that a better future is possible for us, I am joining Reform UK," she noted.

Braverman, 45, came under fire during her role as home secretary after calling pro-Palestine rallies in protest of Israeli genocide in Gaza "hate marches."​​​​​​​

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