A Tory MP who announced on Monday he was defecting to Reform has rejected calls for a by-election.
Danny Kruger was elected as Devizes MP in 2019 and the MP for East Wiltshire in 2024, with Reform coming fourth in the latter election.
An online petition calling for him to face a by-election has gathered more than 500 signatures.
However, Kruger – who said he was “honoured” to be asked to help Reform “prepare for government” – has told BBC News that there will not be one.
Kruger has said that he would “continue to be the MP that I was elected to be at the last election” and would “vote exactly the same way that I’ve voted since the Labour government came in”.
He has previously indicated there would not be a by-election in the wake of his defection and has now confirmed this when speaking to BBC Points West.
Kruger said he has concluded the Conservative party “is not getting into a position to be able to make it into government”.
He also said he “respects” what Trump and JD Vance are doing in the USA.
“I respect the populist impulse,” Kruger said. “I think it’s right we see a populist rebellion.
“On a personal level, I find [Trump] too confrontational and dividing.”
Kruger is the second sitting MP to join Reform UK, after Lee Anderson, who was previously a Tory MP, sat as an independent before joining Reform in 2024.
Reform now have five MPs in the Commons, having seen two of their MPs elected in the 2024 general election.
Former Tory MP Maria Caulfield, who lost her seat at the last election, announced on Tuesday that she was also joining the party.
