The Havering and Redbridge London Assembly member, who has sat in City Hall since 2016, joined dozens of other former Conservatives in joining Nigel Farage’s party at a time when leader Kemi Badenoch was hoping to revive her party’s fortunes.
His defection to Reform means that the party now has an official grouping on the London Assembly for the first time since the party was founded in 2021.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after his first Mayor’s Question Time session wearing a lighter shade of blue, Mr Prince claimed Reform could be the dominant party in outer London.
He said those in the “doughnut” – areas in London’s suburbs traditionally targeted by Tories, including former Conservative mayor Boris Johnson – would be the most likely group to vote for Reform.
“That’s where we will do very, very well and I can see us taking some of those outer London boroughs – one of mine for instance is Havering, I can see us taking control of Havering after the May elections, so that’s going to be really exciting,” he said.
“Hopefully then we can actually start challenging some of these mono-party boroughs there are the inner London boroughs which just have [a] one party state, and hopefully by Reform even winning two or three seats in those we can start to challenge the traditional leftist approach there.”
Mr Prince’s constituents voted for him as a Conservative Party politician at last year’s London Assembly elections.
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When news of the defection broke, his former colleague Andrew Boff wrote on social media: “Looking forward to the by-election Keith …. Keith?”
The new Reform member said that sending voters to the polls in Havering and Redbridge to vote again on his seat would be a waste of taxpayer cash.
He added: “I have some sympathy with that idea, but as I represent 300,000 people, it would be a very, very expensive exercise.
“In these times when we’re trying to save money, I don’t think it would be a good use of taxpayers’ money to spend £100,000+ just for me to get re-elected.”
Mr Prince, who also sits as a borough councillor in Havering, says the local elections next May will give some of his constituents the right to express their view at the ballot box.
Susan Hall, who leads the Conservative group on the London Assembly, told the LDRS: “We’re sorry to see Keith go over to Reform. He was elected on a Conservative platform and his voters deserve to have their views represented – which we will continue to do.”
Leaving the Conservatives appeared an easy decision for Mr Prince in light of the national picture.
“Reform does have a dynamic leader, very charismatic leader, with a vision, while the current Conservative Party do not,” he said.
“Over a few years now, I’ve seen the Conservative sort of leave me, and I think I’ve now found a new home and a new family with Reform.
“I’m very excited, it’s a young party. It’s one that I think I can influence. I’ve met with Nigel and we agree on a whole load of things. And I think it’s going to be a really great challenge.”
London has a smaller share of Reform voters than the rest of the UK, but a higher share of people who say they would consider voting for the party in future, according to recent polling.
The party came fifth in the 2024 London mayoral race, with 78,865 – or 3.1 per cent of – Londoners casting their vote for then-candidate Howard Cox.
Insiders are confident they can boost their fortunes in the capital come 2028, with one particular candidate – Westminster councillor and former Tory defector Laila Cunningham – becoming the face of Reform on Londonwide issues.
Mr Prince added: “We hear that Sadiq is planning to stand again, which actually does put a lot of credence to the original proposal to limit the term of office for a mayor. But we’re in a democracy, so if he wins, he wins.
“But very much so, we will be putting up a really great candidate to fight to try and save London.”
