By Sam Courtney-Guy
Copyright metro
Kruger announced his defection at a Reform UK press conference on Monday (Picture: PA)
A Conservative shadow minister has defected from the Tories to Reform UK, saying Nigel Farage should be the next prime minister.
Danny Kruger, the MP for East Wiltshire, said he believes the Conservative Party ‘is over’ in a press conference on Monday.
The son of Great British Bake Off presenter Prue Leith, Kruger has been an MP since 2019, when the Tories won a landslide election victory under Boris Johnson.
An evangelical Christian, he became one of the UK’s most high-profile campaigners against assisted dying – activities which are currently under investigation for potential rule-breaking.
It’s the first time a sitting Conservative MP has defected to Mr Farage’s party, and will come as a major blow to Kemi Badenoch, who won the leadership on a right-leaning platform.
‘Prue and Danny’s Death Road Trip’ on Channel 4 saw the pair discuss assisted dying reforms
Who is Danny Kruger?
The 50-year-old has been a backbencher for most of his six-year parliamentary career, barring a nine-month spell as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the housing ministry.
He resigned as Boris Johnson’s leadership crumbled in the wake of scandals over his conduct during the pandemic.
Mr Kruger has frequently cited his faith, urging the UK to return to ‘Christian values’ in his first speech as MP in 2020.
The following year he appeared in the news after being fined £730 after allowing his dog to cause a stampede of 200 deer, having been filmed chasing after her.
OK, here it is. This is the video of Tory MP Danny Kruger chasing after his dog yelling “Pebble!” after it caused a deer stampede in Richmond Park.Filmed by Don Martin, who lives locally. https://t.co/b0a2jLEhrY pic.twitter.com/RNXJ9WPveB— Tony Diver (@Tony_Diver) June 7, 2021
In 2023 he stirred controversy with a speech in which he argued ‘the only possible basis for a safe and successful society’ is marriage between men and women.
He suggested heterosexual couples who ‘stick together for the sake of the children’ should be rewarded.
Then-prime minister Rishi Sunak publicly rebuffed him, saying the comments did not reflect his views or his government.
Mr Kruger has also been a vocal opponent of laws to legalise assisted dying, again frequently citing his religion.
He and his mother – who supports the reforms – fronted a documentary debating the issue, a matter close to home as Dame Prue’s brother ‘begged to die’ as he lost a battle with bone cancer in 2012.
Dame Prue is in favour of dying people having the choice to end their lives early (Picture: Channel Four)
Mr Kruger was criticised for saying on TV that he regretted his mother had not ‘seen sense’ on the issue but insisted they had a healthy relationship and were able to debate the issue freely.
He was chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on assisted dying from 2021 until early 2024, when it was remade under the new Labour government.
Westminster’s standards watchdog opened an investigation into him in November over complaints about funding to the group, which received £55,000 from lobbyists linked to the Christian right.
The specifics of the allegations are not known but the Observer reported that there were long delays – in one case more than 18 months – in the reporting of large donations.
A spokesperson for Mr Kruger said at the time: ‘The rules state that a member under investigation should not comment publicly on the allegations being investigated. We will therefore not be commenting.’
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Recently, Mr Kruger has more vocally telegraphed his alienation from mainstream centre-right thinking.
In a Commons speech earlier this year he argued that the gap left by declining Christianity in Britain was being replaced by Islam and ‘woke’ thinking.
He argued the latter is a ‘deeply dangerous ideology of power’ influenced by ‘paganism’ and ‘heresies’ that is ‘hostile’ to families.
‘It must simply be destroyed at least as a public doctrine. It must be banished from public life from schools and universities and from businesses in public service,’ he continued.
Prior to going into politics, Kruger held a number of jobs in politics and founded the youth crime prevention charity Only Connect.
Kruger is the first sitting Tory MP to defect to Reform UK (Picture: PA)
After being educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford, he joined the centre-right think tank Centre for Policy Studies before moving into the Conservative Party’s Policy Unit.
After a failed bid to become MP in 2005, he became David Cameron’s chief speechwriter for two years before leaving to work full time for his charity in 2008.
A decade later he moved back into politics to become an adviser to the government’s culture and sports ministry.
He became Boris Johnson’s political secretary in August 2019, leaving the position when he was elected MP later that year.
Why has Danny Kruger defected to Reform?
In his speech announcing his defection, Mr Kruger claimed the Tory party is no longer ‘the principal opposition to the left’.
‘The Conservative Party is over. Over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the Left,’ he said.
He argued its time in office was marked by ‘failure, bigger government, social decline, low wages, high taxes, and less of what ordinary people actually wanted’.
Mr Kruger continued: ‘But I am not despondent because conservatism is not over.
‘It’s never been needed more. And actually, it’s never been more vibrant. Because the failure of the Conservative Party has created space for an alternative. The flame is passing from one torch to another.
‘We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial and the result is in the polls.
‘And those voters aren’t coming back, and every day, more and more people are joining them in deserting the party that has failed.’
‘Our mission is not just to overthrow the current system, it is to restore the system we need.’
The MP, who previously represented Devizes, said his role will be preparing Reform UK for government.
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