A veteran Tory has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK just a day before the Conservative Party Conference kicks off in Manchester.

Keith Prince, who has been a member of the party for nearly 50 years, announced his intention to leave the Tories this morning.

Mr Prince has represented Havering and Redbridge at the London Assembly since 2016, having previously served as the leader of Redbridge council between 2009 and 2014.

The 67-year-old’s defection marks a fresh blow for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has lost momentum in the polls to Nigel Farage.

Mr Prince wrote on X: “Today I join Reform UK after 49 years as a member of the Conservative Party.

“I am really excited to be joining a party with a charismatic leader and a vision for a better Britain.”

Taking a parting shot at his former party, Mr Prince said the Tories were “done and dusted”, adding they had “served a purpose once” but were “no longer an effective opposition to this failing Labour Government”.

Marking what the move means for Reform in the London Assembly, Mr Farage said it was “an important moment for the party”.

“With Keith’s defection, Reform UK now has an official group on the London Assembly for the first time,” he said.

“Our impressive progress in London continues, and we are building our momentum ahead of London’s local elections next May.”

Mr Prince’s defection means he now joins Alex Wilson to become the second Reform member of the London-wide body.

It also means the party now has an official group in City Hall for the first time.

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London Conservatives leader Susan Hall said she was “sorry that Keith has taken the decision to leave”.

However, she went on to insist “our mission, to hold the mayor to account and scrutinise his failures, remains unchanged”.

At the Conservative Party conference on Sunday, Kemi Badenoch will commit to withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights if her party wins at the next election.

The Tory leader warned that a failure to control Britain’s borders has pushed the country to “breaking point”.

She claims her party offer a vision of ­“authentic conservatism”, describing Reform UK’s Nigel Farage as a “one-man band” who offered a ­“pastiche” of Tory values.

The Tory leader said: “Our country is ­getting to breaking point because we are not controlling our borders. People are unhappy.

“If you cannot deliver the basics for your people, because of a ­convention which is out of your control, then you should leave.

“It is not about wanting to leave the ECHR, it is about wanting to make sure we can run the country for the people of this country, not for everybody else who turns up on our shores.”

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