Former Tory deputy chair Gullis defects to Reform

Jonathan Gullis, a former Conservative Party deputy chairman, has announced he has quit the party and joined Reform UK.

The former MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and education minister had been a party member for 18 years, but said he believed the party had "lost touch with the people it was meant to serve".

It comes one month after councillor Daniel Jellyman, the Conservative group leader on Stoke-on-Trent City Council, also defected to Reform UK and became the party's leader on the local authority.

The BBC has approached the Staffordshire Conservatives for comment.

"From failing to control both legal and illegal migration to pursuing a Net Zero agenda that has seen a rise in our household energy bills and put jobs in Stoke-on-Trent's world famous ceramics sector at risk, the Conservative Party has understandably lost the trust of the British people," Mr Gullis said in a statement released on Monday.

During his time in Parliament, he served as Minister for School Standards in the Department for Education and was appointed as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party last year.

He is currently the Mayor of Kidsgrove.

Reform UK gained its first seat on the city council after Councillor Luke Shenton won a by-election in May.

Shenton said: "Jonathan's decision to join us is a huge boost for Reform UK locally.

"The people of Stoke-on-Trent deserve better than this failing Labour government.

"Together, we'll fight for the hardworking people of Stoke-on-Trent, and build a real alternative to this tired political establishment."