Labour in Turmoil, Conservatives in Decline as Reform Rises
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Britain’s Labour government is reeling from a string of resignations and scandals that have weakened Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s authority, just as the opposition Conservative Party faces an unprecedented defection to the surging right-wing Reform UK.
Paul Ovenden, Starmer’s director of strategy and one of his closest aides, quit Monday after sexually explicit messages he exchanged in 2017 about veteran left-wing politician Diane Abbott were made public. His exit follows the forced resignations earlier this month of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, over unpaid property taxes, and Ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ovenden said he had already intended to resign before summer but brought forward his departure “to avoid distracting from the vital work this government is doing to positively change people’s lives.” Starmer’s office described the comments as “appalling and unacceptable” but stressed they predated Ovenden’s time in government.
The turmoil comes little more than a year after Starmer led Labour to one of the largest election victories in modern history, ending 14 years of Conservative rule. Since then, political missteps and weak economic growth have seen his approval ratings collapse, with Labour now slipping behind Reform UK in some polls.
Reform gained fresh momentum Monday when Conservative lawmaker Danny Kruger crossed the floor to join Nigel Farage’s party, becoming the first sitting Tory MP to defect since the 2024 election. Speaking at a press conference with Farage, Kruger — a former aide to Boris Johnson and David Cameron — declared: “The Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition.”
Despite its surge in the polls, Reform holds just five seats in Parliament. But the defection underscores the collapse of Britain’s two dominant political parties, with Labour struggling in government and the Conservatives suffering an identity crisis after their worst defeat in decades.
Farage, who rose to prominence as a champion of Brexit, said Kruger had approached him to make the switch. “This is a tragic conclusion for him but a great moment for us,” Farage said.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the defection, telling Sky News she would not be “blown off course” while rebuilding the party. But the move adds to growing questions about whether the Conservatives, historically Britain’s most successful political force, can recover after losing power and watching their voter base fragment.
For now, the turbulence inside both governing Labour and the opposition Conservatives leaves Farage’s Reform UK as the chief political beneficiary, reshaping the landscape of British politics.
