Danny Kruger’s defection to Reform UK sparks mixed reaction in his constituency

Former Conservative MP Danny Kruger’s defection to Reform UK has been met with a mixed reaction in his constituency.

The East Wiltshire MP, who was first elected as a Conservative MP in 2019, quit Kemi Badenoch’s party on Monday and was unveiled as Nigel Farage’s latest recruit at a press conference.

In Marlborough, which was in Mr Kruger’s former Devizes constituency and became East Wiltshire following boundary changes, local residents spoke of their surprise at the sudden announcement.

One resident asked whether she would have the chance to vote for a new MP, but Mr Kruger has indicated he would not be triggering a by-election.

On the market town’s high street, which is regarded as one of the best in the country, people were mostly trying to shelter from the frequent downpours of rain.

“I have literally just heard,” said local resident Jo, who decline to give her surname.

“I don’t have a lot of interest in it as a local resident. I won’t support him now, although I did.

“I think it’s a shame – I don’t have strong feelings. I think you will get a lot of angry people.”

One resident, who did not wish to give their name, said: “He’s been a good MP so I will continue to support him.”

Another who lives in a village in the constituency said: “I think he’s done a good job representing the constituency and I voted for him last year and will carry on.”

In a post on social media, Sir Robert Buckland KC, a cabinet minister under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said he was a constituent of Mr Kruger’s.

“Hey Danny Kruger, you are supposed to be my Conservative MP. What on earth do you think you are doing? Local people did not vote for this!,” he wrote on X.

David Kinnaird, who stood against Mr Kruger for the Liberal Democrats at the last general election, said he read his statement “with a mix of sadness and anger”.

“Reform UK is not a serious party of government. It is a vehicle for resentment, built on dehumanising rhetoric and empty promises,” he said.

Mr Kruger was previously chief speechwriter to David Cameron, writing the then-opposition leader’s “hug a hoodie” speech in 2006.

Later, he was Boris Johnson’s political secretary during the final stages of Westminster’s Brexit battles in 2019.

More recently he has been the most vocal critic of the proposed assisted dying Bill, driven by his strong Christian faith but in stark disagreement with his mother, Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith.