Ex-Bolton MP among three Tories defecting to Reform

Former Bolton West Tory MP Chris Green has defected to Reform

Former Bolton West Tory MP Chris Green has defected to Reform, the party confirmed earlier.

He has made the switch with Jonathan Gullis, who represented Stoke-on-Trent North and Lia Nici, who served as Grimsby MP.

The three former Conservative MPs have all joined "on their own accord online", a Reform party source confirmed to Press Association.

"The Conservative Party is dead. Only Reform can beat Labour at the next election as the polls show time and time again," the Reform party source said.

The three defections are the first since Danny Kruger, the sitting MP for East Wiltshire, left the Tories to Reform in September.