Braverman's defection met with anger but little surprise

There is an audible sigh down the phone from another MP, and an eye roll from someone I stop in the street.

But no-one in the local area is shocked that Fareham and Waterlooville MP Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK.

She has long been seen as a Conservative on the right of the party, supporting the Rwanda plan to see failed asylum seekers sent abroad.

Her most active campaign locally in the past 18 months had been against plans to use town centre flats in Waterlooville for supported asylum accommodation by the Home Office.

She stood alongside Reform UK's Richard Tice in September giving a speech about the need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

In fact, on that day I'd put her colleague Simon Martin, leader of Fareham Borough Council, on standby to give me a reaction in case it was also a defection speech.

He told me I probably wouldn't need him. He was right. But yesterday was different.

Just a week ago Braverman assured local Tories defection was not her plan.

"We had a frank discussion and what she told me is completely at odds with what she's done today," Martin told me. "I'm not impressed."

Neither was her close neighbour Paul Holmes MP, whose Hamble Valley constituency also covers parts of Fareham.

"The members here worked hard to get two Conservatives elected in 2024 in a difficult election for the party," he said.

"People chose Conservative and they're getting Reform. That's not democracy."

Some voters on Fareham High Street called for a by-election, saying they'd ticked a Conservative box not Reform.

The Liberal Democrats and Labour have submitted a motion to the next full council meeting, saying Braverman should be urged to resign and forced to face voters at the polls.

By-elections aren't triggered when MPs defect because we put an X in a box next to a person's name, not a party. If the elected MP chooses to move party, we still have the person we voted for.

And not all in Fareham on Monday minded that.

Some celebrated Braverman's move, saying it was her right-leaning views they'd backed and they were happy to see Reform rising in popularity.

And when Braverman spoke, she addressed local activists in her constituency, saying many had privately been voicing concern about Conservative party policies.

She urged them to join her: "Loyalty is a two-way street. If the party you joined no longer reflects the values and principles that it once did, you should question your allegiance.

"If the party keeps breaking its promises, you should question your loyalty."

One of those sympathetic to Braverman was former Conservative borough council leader Seán Woodward, a councillor for 38 years until 2024 when he retired.

He argued it was a sad day to lose someone of Braverman's calibre, blaming the way the party had treated her in part.

Braverman mentioned her 30 years of Conservative party membership when she gave her speech in what was clearly an emotional moment, after listening to the applause she said "done it, done it!" clutching her chest.

Woodward agreed the Conservative party was "unrecognisable" from the one he joined, but when asked if he would potentially follow Braverman, he said he hoped the party could change and keep people on board by working with Reform.

"There's an old saying, if you don't hang together, we will hang separately," he said.

"There is no room for two parties on the right."

There's been a slow dribble in Hampshire of councillors moving from independent parties and the Conservatives to Reform UK.

The party has won a few council seats, the latest in a by-election in the neighbouring council of Gosport just this month.

But this is without doubt Reform UK's biggest catch in the area, and most don't think Braverman will be the last one to jump ship.

The Westminster media interest will move on quickly but spare a thought for those in Fareham and Waterlooville, and the team in her office who said: "It's business as usual tomorrow, back to case work - we still work for the Fareham and Waterlooville MP, whatever the party."

I bet their email inbox may be a little busier though.

And also for the Conservatives in the town, who are left with a ongoing problems, such as finding a candidate to back for the next general election.

Before that, there's the local borough and county council elections in 14 weeks' time. A third of the seats are up for grabs.

Joanne Burton, one of the councillors, called the timing of this defection "lousy" and said knocking on doors was going to be tricky.

"I hope people separate local and national politics here," she told me.

"It will be such a shame if local hardworking Conservatives are punished for this."

There is a small tenancy issue too. Braverman's MP constituency office is inside the Fareham Conservatives association.

Asked what happens now, I was told: "I'm not quite sure yet what we're going to do about that."