Suella Braverman has said she hopes she is “not driven out to Reform” by her Conservative colleagues.
The former home secretary has attracted anger from some of the more centrist MPs in her party over her tough stance on immigration, as well as controversial comments on protests, LGBTQ+ issues and homelessness.
But speaking to GB News, she said her party “should not be hounding out Conservatives, right-wingers, Euro-sceptics, people who want to stand up for our flag and our faith”.
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Rumours have swirled since the general election that she may defect to Nigel Farage’s party, especially after she ruled herself out of the contest to lead the Tory party earlier this week, saying she had been branded “mad, bad and dangerous” by her critics.
But while she denied those claims on Thursday, Ms Braverman hinted she could change her mind, saying: “I’m not going to defect to Reform. And I hope I’m not driven out to Reform by my colleagues.”
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She also accused the Conservatives of having “shifted to the left” on its policies, saying she had found herself “more at odds with the party” than before.
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The MP for Fareham also defended her former colleague Lee Anderson, who joined Reform in March.
He was kicked out of the Tory party for refusing to apologise over his claims London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”.
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Ms Braverman said: “I look at Lee Anderson. Lee Anderson is a good friend of mine, and it’s a tragedy that we lost him to Reform.
“He’s someone who speaks with an authentic voice that resonates with a lot of people in Britain.”
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She said for the Conservatives to win the next election, they needed to “deal with this existential threat posed by Reform” and whoever won the leadership “has to be able to bring those four million voters back… with credibility and by providing an inspiring vision”.
