Kemi Badenoch has been dealt yet another blow by Reform UK, after one of her donors and occasional advisers announced he is their newest defector.
Mark Gallagher, who gave Ms Badenoch £2,000 for her leadership campaign last year, has announced he is joining Nigel Farage‘s party.
It is understood that one reason for the defection was the way Badenoch did not respond to repeated attempts to help and was just ignoring him.
A Reform UK source told the Express: “Nigel and Mark have been friends for a long, we understand he is very disenchanted with the Conservative Party.”
The party did not comment on whether Mr Gallagher is planning on donating to his new party.
A Tory Party spokesman said: “Mark Gallagher hasn’t been a member of the Conservatives since 2020, was a founding member of the Brexit Party, and therefore this can’t be described a defection.
“He made a very small donation to Kemi’s leadership campaign last year, but was open about remaining close to Nigel. As so often, Reform are overselling and underdelivering.”
It’s the second defection to Reform UK in two days, after Mr Farage gained his second member on the London Assembly.
Yesterday the party revealed that veteran Tory Keith Prince, who represents Havering and Redbridge on the GLA, had defected.
Mr Prince said the Tory party were “done and dusted” and “no longer an effective opposition to this failing Labour government.”
“Today I join Reform UK after 49 years as a member of the Conservative Party. I am really excited to be a joining a party with a charismatic leader and a vision for a better Britain.”
Mr Farage hailed the Tory’s move as “an important moment for the party.”
“With Keith’s defection, Reform UK now has an official group on the London Assembly for the first time.
“Our impressive progress in London continues, and we are building our momentum ahead of London’s local elections next May.”
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Kemi Badenoch has been dealt another blow (Image: Getty)
The Tories‘ conference, like Labour and the LibDems, will be dominated by discussion of how to prevent Reform UK winning the next election.
The party now hovers on the cusp of being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats in the polls, between 20% and 13% support depending on the polling company.
Speaking on Laura Kuenssberg’s show this morning, Ms Badenoch insisted that her approach to governing the Tories would “pay off eventually”.
Huge Blow for Kemi Badenoch as Tory Donor and Adviser Defects to Reform
Kemi Badenoch has faced another political setback after Mark Gallagher, a former Conservative donor and occasional adviser, announced that he was joining Reform UK. Gallagher previously donated £2,000 to Badenoch’s Conservative leadership campaign and had maintained links with Nigel Farage. The move has attracted attention because it came during a period when the Conservatives were attempting to rebuild their position while facing increasing competition from Reform.
The announcement was particularly significant because of Gallagher’s previous relationship with Badenoch. His donation to her leadership campaign placed him among the people who had financially supported her attempt to become Conservative leader. His subsequent decision to associate himself with Reform therefore created a striking political headline.
According to reporting surrounding the announcement, Gallagher had become increasingly dissatisfied with the Conservative Party. A Reform source said that Gallagher and Farage had been friends for a long time and described Gallagher as disenchanted with the Conservatives.
However, the Conservative Party disputed the description of the move as a straightforward Tory defection.
A Conservative spokesman pointed out that Gallagher had not been a Conservative Party member since 2020 and had previously been a founding member of the Brexit Party. The spokesman therefore argued that describing him as a Conservative defector overstated the significance of the move. The Conservatives also emphasised that his donation to Badenoch’s leadership campaign had been relatively small and that he had remained close to Farage.
That distinction is important when assessing the political significance of the announcement.
Gallagher’s decision represents a change in political allegiance and adds another name to Reform’s growing network of supporters. But it does not necessarily demonstrate that a current Conservative member or office-holder has abandoned Badenoch’s leadership.
Nevertheless, the timing gave Reform an opportunity to portray the announcement as another sign of dissatisfaction within the Conservative movement.
A wider battle between Reform and the Conservatives
The Gallagher announcement occurred against the backdrop of a much broader struggle between Reform UK and the Conservative Party.
Since the 2024 general election, Nigel Farage’s party has attempted to expand its organisation and attract people who previously supported or worked with the Conservatives. The process has included former MPs, councillors, activists and other political figures.
For Badenoch, this creates a complicated political challenge.
The Conservative Party is attempting to recover from its 2024 election defeat while also competing with a party that has positioned itself as an alternative to the traditional political establishment.
Reform’s message has focused heavily on immigration, national sovereignty, taxation, government spending and political reform. Some of those issues have historically been associated with Conservative voters, giving Reform an opportunity to appeal to people who might previously have regarded the Conservatives as their natural political home.
Gallagher’s move therefore fits into a wider pattern of political competition.
Yet the Conservative response has been to emphasise that Reform’s public claims about defections can sometimes exaggerate the extent of its success.
This is why the distinction over Gallagher’s membership history matters.
If someone left the Conservatives years earlier, remained close to Farage and had a history with the Brexit Party, describing the individual as a serving Conservative defector can create a different impression from the underlying facts.
The competing descriptions demonstrate how political parties attempt to frame the same event.
The significance of donors
Political donors can attract particular attention because financial support is often closely associated with political influence and personal relationships.
Gallagher’s £2,000 contribution to Badenoch’s leadership campaign was not among the largest political donations in Britain, but it became significant because of what happened afterwards.
A donor who subsequently moves towards a rival party provides an obvious political narrative: someone who once supported the Conservative leadership has decided to back a different political project.
For Reform, such developments can help demonstrate that its appeal extends beyond ordinary voters.
For the Conservatives, they raise questions about whether the party is retaining the support of people who have traditionally provided financial and organisational backing.
However, one individual’s decision cannot establish a general trend among Conservative donors.
Political support is often fluid, particularly during periods of significant party realignment. Donors can support individual candidates without committing themselves permanently to an entire political party.
That appears particularly relevant in Gallagher’s case because of his previous relationship with Farage and his history outside the Conservative Party.
Nigel Farage’s continuing influence
The move also highlights Nigel Farage’s continuing role in Britain’s political landscape.
Farage has spent decades building a political movement around Brexit, immigration, national sovereignty and dissatisfaction with the established parties.
His relationship with people who previously operated within Conservative circles has helped Reform present itself as a broader political home for those who believe the Conservatives no longer represent their views.
Gallagher’s reported friendship with Farage provides another example of how personal political networks can influence party movements.
Farage has repeatedly sought to demonstrate that Reform can attract experienced politicians and activists rather than relying exclusively on protest voters.
This strategy has become particularly important as Reform attempts to establish itself as a permanent national political organisation.
Another London Assembly defection
The Gallagher announcement also came shortly after another development involving Reform and the Conservatives.
Reform announced that veteran Conservative politician Keith Prince, who represented Havering and Redbridge on the London Assembly, had joined the party after 49 years as a Conservative member.
Prince described the Conservatives as no longer being an effective opposition and said he was excited to join Reform. Farage welcomed the move, describing it as an important moment because it gave Reform an official group on the London Assembly for the first time.
Unlike Gallagher’s case, Prince was a long-serving Conservative politician and his move therefore represented a more direct example of an elected Conservative representative changing parties.
The two announcements together allowed Reform to present a narrative of growing momentum.
However, they also illustrate why individual cases need to be examined separately. Gallagher’s political history differs significantly from Prince’s, and treating both as identical examples of Conservative defections would overlook important details.
Pressure on Kemi Badenoch
For Badenoch, the timing was nevertheless difficult.
The Conservative leader has been attempting to establish a clear identity for the party following its historic defeat at the 2024 general election. At the same time, she has faced persistent questions about how the Conservatives should respond to Reform.
One approach is to compete directly with Farage on issues such as immigration and national sovereignty.
Another is to offer a distinct Conservative programme focused on economic policy, public services, defence and government competence.
The difficulty is that Conservative voters are not a single group.
Some are primarily concerned about immigration. Others place greater importance on taxation, the economy, healthcare, pensions, housing or public services.
A Conservative strategy focused too heavily on one issue could therefore risk failing to address the wider range of concerns among potential supporters.
Reform’s rise makes this challenge more complicated because it provides dissatisfied Conservative voters with an alternative.
Can the Conservatives rebuild?
The central question for Badenoch is therefore whether the Conservatives can rebuild their political coalition.
The party has a long history of recovering from difficult electoral periods, but the current political environment differs from previous periods because Reform has established itself as a significant competitor.
Badenoch has argued that the Conservatives need to learn lessons from their defeat rather than simply chase opinion polls.
Her strategy requires the party to develop policies that can distinguish it from both Labour and Reform.
That means answering difficult questions about taxation, immigration, government spending, public services and Britain’s international role.
The Gallagher story adds another reminder of the pressure surrounding this process.
Political parties depend not only on voters but also on activists, donors, candidates and elected representatives. Losing people from any of these groups can create political headlines, even when the numerical impact is limited.
For Reform, every high-profile association with a former Conservative figure provides an opportunity to reinforce its message that Britain’s political right is changing.
For the Conservatives, the response is to emphasise the distinction between individual departures and the party’s broader membership and electoral base.
Reform’s own challenges
The growth of Reform also brings responsibilities.
As the party becomes more established, scrutiny of its candidates, representatives, donors and internal organisation is likely to increase.
A political movement can operate differently when it is campaigning primarily as a protest party than when it is attempting to establish a nationwide governing organisation.
Reform therefore faces questions about candidate selection, policy development, internal discipline and the ability to maintain a consistent national message.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, possess decades of experience in government and a substantial national organisation.
That institutional experience remains one of their distinguishing characteristics.
The competition between the parties is therefore not simply about which one can attract the most headlines. It is also about which organisation can build a sustainable political coalition and persuade voters that it is capable of delivering its programme.
A changing political landscape
Gallagher’s decision illustrates how fluid British politics has become.
Political loyalties that once appeared relatively stable have become more complicated. The Brexit referendum transformed the relationship between voters and the traditional parties, while subsequent elections demonstrated that large numbers of voters were willing to change their allegiance.
Reform has benefited from that fluidity.
The Conservatives have also been forced to reconsider their political strategy as voters who once supported them have moved towards Labour, Reform, the Liberal Democrats and other parties.
This means that a political announcement involving one donor or adviser can receive disproportionate attention because it fits into a much larger story about party realignment.
The facts of Gallagher’s case remain relatively specific: he donated £2,000 to Badenoch’s leadership campaign, was no longer a Conservative member, had previous links to the Brexit Party and subsequently announced his move towards Reform.
The political interpretation is much broader.
Reform presents the development as evidence of growing support, while the Conservatives stress that Gallagher was not a current party member.
Both perspectives help explain why the announcement generated such different reactions.
Conclusion
Mark Gallagher’s move to Reform UK has provided Nigel Farage’s party with another opportunity to highlight its appeal among people with connections to the Conservative movement.
For Kemi Badenoch, the announcement represents another reminder of the competitive pressure Reform is placing on the Conservatives, particularly among voters and political figures on the right.
At the same time, the details matter. Gallagher had not been a Conservative member since 2020 and had previously been associated with the Brexit Party, meaning the Conservatives dispute describing him as a straightforward Tory defection.
The episode therefore should be viewed as part of a wider political realignment rather than as evidence by itself of a decisive shift within the Conservative Party.
Reform will continue seeking to attract former Conservatives and build its political organisation, while Badenoch will need to demonstrate that her party can rebuild its identity and maintain support in an increasingly fragmented political environment.
The contest between the Conservatives and Reform is likely to remain important as both parties attempt to define the future of Britain’s political right. For now, Gallagher’s move has given Farage another political headline and Badenoch another reminder of the challenge facing her party.