Boris Johnson's friend defected to Reform - here's what Farage should do next to win

It's been a stellar week for Reform after it bagged two former Cabinet ministers and Nigel Farage topped polls as the best performing party leader. Sir Jake Berry, ex-Tory chairman, and David Jones, who was Welsh Secretary and a Brexit minister, have both made the leap and Westminster is consumed by who will follow next. But the question Farage is now wrestling with is: "how many Tories is too many Tories?" Berry and Jones have the experience the insurgent Reform will need if it is to make the transformation from a party of protest to governing. Everyone can see from the mess Sir Keir Starmer and his army of finger-jabbers how hard it is to switch from criticising to doing.

Names of those supposedly being pursued by Reform are swirling around and the knives are out for those who have jumped. One Tory told me they expected more members of the "unreconstructed Liz gang" to switch sides.

The source blamed them for being the "architects of Truss's failed experiment" who would fit in well with Reform because they "believe in cutting taxes while going on a spending spree".

"Jake has shown he is in it for himself and will cling on to Farage's coat tails in the desperate hope of making a comeback," the MP added. Farage has made it clear he will only take Conservatives who he believes are genuinely on board with the Reform project and can offer the party something.

But personalities and grudges will also play a part in deciding who is welcomed into the fold. One Reformer said there were Tories who had been "taking the p***" out of the party before the election but were now begging for a seat and shouldn't be let in.

Reform is hovering close to the mark in the polls where an outright majority becomes a very real possibility.

We are a long way out from an election but if that became a reality, the party would have to find around 100 people to form a government.

Farage has said he will bring in people from outside so there is a breadth and depth of experience.

But that is still a huge undertaking for a party with just four MPs at the moment, so attracting high quality defectors will be absolutely crucial.

Those considering a new political home will be watching very closely how Berry is treated by his new colleagues. In a small party with big personalities, will he be given the respect and freedom to make a difference?

Who will he bring over with him? Berry led the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, mainly in the Red Wall, that pushed for the government to focus more investment in the north. He was so close to Boris Johnson that the former prime minister is godfather to one of his children. One well-connected Tory questioned whether Berry is "testing the water" for Johnson.

It would be the most powerful political pairing since Blair and Brown but would inevitably detonate more spectacularly and with far greater speed so can almost certainly be discounted. Almost...

Jones has ruled out any return to the political frontline and joined Reform quietly as a private member back in January. After half a century in the party and 19 years as an MP he has seen it all and been through the lows as well as the highs.

But Jones has spent the last few years opposed to much of what the Conservative Party was doing and came to the conclusion that Reform was more in tune with his politics.

He wrote to the Tory party chairman laying out his intention to quit his membership and has never received a response. That lack of care for a loyal member who reached the Cabinet is symptomatic of the problems that are making a bad situation even worse for the Conservative Party.

CCHQ is hollowed out and its staff are as demoralised as many of the MPs. Is Kemi Badenoch making an effort to keep those who have seats and those who lost them onside so they resist the lure of Reform?

We will find out in the coming weeks and months with Farage promising some big name defections. Of course, the best way to send shockwaves through Westminster would be to secure a Labour defector. Afterall, Lee Anderson was once a Labour councillor and a long-time party member.

Reform came second to Labour in 89 seats at the election and Starmer's woeful first year means they are as twitchy as their Tory counterparts.

Too many Tories would make Reform look like the establishment it is fighting. Attracting some figures from the centre Left would show Reform really is about to blast apart the system.