“If he is so confident that the people of East Wiltshire want a Reform MP he should stand down to allow for a by-election.”
Tories and local residents are furious about ex-Tory MP Danny Kruger’s defection to Reform UK, and say he should step down to enable a by-election to take place.
Richard Clewer, leader of the Conservative group on Wiltshire Council, told the Salisbury Journal: “Personally I’m very disappointed. Danny was elected as a Conservative a little over a year ago, and people voted for a Conservative candidate.”
Clewer described Kruger as a “fiscally conservative politician” and pointed out that Reform’s latest budget proposals have an £80 billion black hole.
He added: “If he is so confident that the people of East Wiltshire want a Reform MP he should stand down to allow for a by-election.”
Brian Burchfield, chair of Melksham and Devizes Conservative Association, said he was “disappointed” to hear Kruger had joined Reform, “a privately-run party that appears more focused on private interest than public service, while advocating for increased welfare spending and higher taxes”.
Quoting Kruger’s own previous comments that “the results are in the polls”, Burchfield said: “we would urge him to do the right thing: resign his seat and trigger a by-election.”
One local resident, David Chandler, wrote to the Gazette and Herald calling Kruger’s move “one of deep treachery”.
At the last general election, Reform came fourth in East Wiltshire.
Kruger has been a Conservative MP for East Wiltshire, previously Devizes, since 2019.
When former Tory MP Douglas Carswell defected to UKIP in 2014, he resigned as an MP, thereby forcing a by-election.
Ironically, when former Tory MP Christian Wakeford defected to Labour in 2022, Nigel Farage insisted he should call a by-election.
In a post on social media, Farage wrote: “If he calls a by-election then that’s fine. If not, he’s the Dishonorable Member for Bury South.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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