Another Tory MP defects to UKIP
Conservative backbencher Mark Reckless has announced he is defecting to Ukip.
The Rochester and Strood MP said he had not taken the decision lightly but claimed the Conservative leadership was “part of the problem that is holding our country back”.
Appearing on stage to a rapturous reception at the eurosceptic party’s conference in Doncaster, he said voters felt “ripped off and lied to”.
“Today I am leaving the Conservative party and joining Ukip,” he said.
Reckless joins Douglas Carswell as the second Tory to defect to UKIP in recent weeks.