Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Reform’s three other MPs came to Parliament with a warning that “the fox is in the henhouse”.
Ashfield MP Mr Anderson, who defected from the Tories in the last Parliament and was re-elected for the East Midlands’ constituency, put out the message as the Reformers posed in the Great Hall.
News Flash 🚨
— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) July 9, 2024
The fox is in the henhouse
Day 1 pic.twitter.com/9hofV98QOd
Reform won five seats in the July 4 election.
But this was less than the 13 predicted by the exit poll.
He became an MP at his eighth attempt.
The other Reform MPs are former leader Richard Tice, Boston & Skegness, former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe who won Great Yarmouth, and James McMurdock, the new MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock.
After his victory in Clacton, the Reform UK leader said: "We will do what we can with five in Parliament, what I will do for certain is provide real opposition in the country.”
Pressed who he would like to see as Conservative Party leader, Mr Farage said: "Honestly, I don't think it matters who they pick as leader. This party is split down the middle, they call it a broad church, well, it's a broad church with no common shared religion."
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman believe the Tories may be facing an "existential threat" from Farage's Reform UK.
She is arguing that the party needs to take a tougher line on reducing immigration, claiming some Tories had treated voters like "mugs" and that Rishi Sunak had run an "idiotic strategy".
She has suggested that the Conservatives should welcome Mr Farage into the party.
But he appears more intent on taking over the party, or becoming the main force on the Right, than becoming part of it.
He will almost certainly use his position at Westminster, as his did in the European Parliament when he was an MEP, to rail against conventional politics and institutions.
Mr Farage, while a formidable campaigner, has yet to show he could deliver any programme of government or reform, especially given the failures of Brexit after so many promises were made during the 2016 referendum campaign.
Some Tory MPs reject Ms Braverman’s stance and believe that the party must remain in the Centre ground of British politics to win back voters rather than swing to the Right to take on Reform.
Ms Braverman could be vying for the Tory leadership with ex-Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch; Dame Priti Patel, who served as Home Secretary between July 2019 and September 2022; Robert Jenrick, who previously served as immigration minister; former security minister Tom Tugendhat and ex-Health Secretary Victoria Atkins.
Tory MPs usually vote to select the top two candidates to put forward as potential leaders, with the party membership choosing the ultimate winner, although the rules and timeline of the race would be set out by the backbench 1922 Committee.
They were on Tuesday choosing a new chairman of the 1922 committee, a powerful post with a key role in deciding the timetable for the leadership contest.
