Romford MP Andrew Rosindell becomes latest Tory to defect to Reform

Veteran MP says ‘time to put country before party’ citing Conservative position on Chagos Islands

Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, has announced his defection to Reform UK, the second such departure to Nigel Farage’s party in four days.

Rosindell, who was a shadow Foreign Office minister under Kemi Badenoch, announced in a statement on X that he was joining Reform, giving as the main reason his opposition to the UK’s handover of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.