Romford MP Andrew Rosindell defects from Conservatives to Reform UK

Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, has announced he is defecting to Reform UK, the second such departure to Nigel Farage's party in four days. Rosindell, who served as a shadow Foreign Office minister under Kemi Badenoch, said in a statement on X that his main reason was opposition to the UK’s handover of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

He said both Labour and the Conservatives "have been complicit in the surrender of this sovereign British territory to a foreign power" and criticised a decision earlier in January to order Conservative peers not to vote down the bill setting out the Chagos deal. He also said he had been a long-term advocate for the rights of Chagossians removed from the island of Diego Garcia in 1971 to allow the construction of a large UK‑US airbase.

The move, announced after a conversation with Nigel Farage, makes Rosindell Reform's seventh MP. While Rosindell is described as lower profile than Robert Jenrick, whose defection on Thursday followed months of secret talks with Farage and led to his sacking and loss of the party whip, the departure of another sitting MP was called a blow to the Conservatives.

The 59‑year‑old is the third sitting Tory MP to join Reform, after Danny Kruger signed up in September; Farage also announced the former cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi as a defector on Monday, though Zahawi is no longer an MP.

Key Topics

Politics, Andrew Rosindell, Reform Uk, Chagos Islands, Nigel Farage, Romford