Conservatives facing extinction as national party, warns Jenrick

The former minister, who announced he was joining Nigel Farage's party less than 2 weeks before Braverman jumped ship, said the Tories would now be a "smaller version of its former self".

His remarks came after the former Home Secretary became the 23rd Conservative politician to defect to Reform, taking the party's total of current MPs to eight.

Read more: All the Tories who have defected to Reform as Braverman joins Farage

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"The Conservative Party is going to become, as you've seen very vividly in the events of the last few days, a party which is a bit like the Lib Dems are the right," Mr Jenrick told LBC's Drive with Tom Swarbrick.

"It's going to be a small party, if it exists at all. It will be representing pockets of great affluence in our big cities and the suburbs.

"It will not be a national party, it will not be a party in the Midlands, the North, East Anglia, Scotland, Wales. It will be a very small version of its former self. Reform is going to be the main party of the right."

Critics have argued that Reform has now become a party of "failed Tories", rather than being one that was unlike any other mainstream party, as once promised by Mr Farage.

Addressing these claims, Mr Jenrick said it was important for Mr Farage to find a "balance of experience and people who are new".

"It's very important that Nigel does assemble people with experience because we don't want to be in the situation that this Labour government has been, where it had no plan, no idea how to actually do things when it got into government," Mr Jenrick added.

Ms Braverman and Mr Jenrick were also joined by Tory shadow minister Andrew Rosindell in jumping to Reform this month, teaming up with fellow ex-Tories Nadhim Zahawi, Lee Anderson and Nadine Dorries in Farage's new Right-wing powerhouse.

The growing number of defections has led to Reform and the Conservatives facing growing calls on the Right to form an electoral pact to get Labour out at the next election.

But Mr Jenrick ruled out the idea, saying: "I think uniting the right is not doing a pact with the Conservative Party. That is not going to happen.

"The sad truth is that the Conservative party is not going to win the next general election. There's no chance of that.

"The trust is gone and it's not coming back anytime soon."

Announcing her departure from the party on Monday, Ms Braverman accused the Conservatives of being taken over by centrist "wets" who were playing "performative conservativism".

She claimed she had been "politically homeless" for several years as she had not received any backing for her Right-wing agenda from the party's leadership.

Mr Farage joined Ms Braverman onstage in London on Monday to welcome her into the party, telling reporters that the former Home secretary understood that "Britain is broken".

The Reform leader also reiterated that May 7 was the cut off date for admitting current and former MPs into the party, as well as for local councillors to defect.

When asked whether accepting more Tories could damage Reform, Mr Farage said: "We're a party that accepts talent.

"If you get people who we believe are talented, who will put their shoulder to the wheel, who will help us, but are also prepared to admit honestly the failings of the Conservative party in 14 years in government and particularly in the last term... then they're very welcome."