Britain's Conservative Party loses another high-profile lawmaker to hard-right Reform

LONDON (AP) — Former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, an anti-immigration Conservative lawmaker, on Monday became the latest politician from the party to defect to hard-right rival party Reform UK.

Braverman, who was fired from her job as interior minister in 2023 after repeatedly diverging from government policy, said she had quit the Conservatives after 30 years and would represent her southern England constituency in Parliament as a Reform lawmaker.

“We can either continue down this route of managed decline to weakness and surrender,” Braverman said. “Or we can fix our country, reclaim our power, rediscover our strength. I believe that a better Britain is possible.”

Braverman is the latest high-profile Conservative to embrace Reform leader Nigel Farage's message that Britain is broken and overrun by migrants. Her move on the heels of Robert Jenrick's recent defection gives Farage's party eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives have 116 seats and remain the official opposition to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government.

Although Reform has a tiny number of seats in Parliament, it leads the governing Labour Party and the Conservatives in opinion polls ahead of important local elections in May, including for the parliaments in Scotland and Wales.

Braverman was sacked by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in November 2023 after she called migration a “hurricane” heading for Britain, said homelessness was a “lifestyle choice” and accused police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters that she called “hate marchers.”

Critics blamed her rhetoric for inflaming tensions when far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands in London.

The 45-year-old lawyer who has criticized liberal social values and what she has called the “tofu-eating wokerati," said she had declined to enter the contest for leadership of the once-dominant center-right Conservative Party after it was trounced by the center-left Labour Party in the July 2024 election.

The Conservative Party said in a statement that Braverman couldn’t muster the support to run for party leadership two years ago, and noted that Farage originally said he didn’t want her in his party. “It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect," the party statement said.

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said Braverman was partly responsible for botching the U.K.'s breakup with the European Union and that the move showed Farage lacked judgment for embracing the worst Conservatives.

“Nigel Farage is stuffing his party full of the failed Tories responsible for the chaos and decline that held Britain back for 14 years," Turley said.

Braverman had urged the party after the 2024 election loss to reach out to welcome Farage into Conservative ranks. Writing in the Daily Telegraph at the time, she said Conservative colleagues were unwilling to listen to her, and branded her “mad, bad and dangerous.”

Now Farage has welcomed her into Reform's growing party.

Farage, who said Braverman was “utterly useless” as home secretary in stopping migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats, said she is now willing to admit her party got it wrong.

“I think she’s reached the view that actually the center-right of British politics needs to unify around Reform," Farage said.

Robert Jenrick speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Robert Jenrick with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and former home secretary Suella Braverman speaking during a Reform UK press conference in London, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, after announcing Braverman has defected to the party. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Former British home secretary Suella Braverman speaks during a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, central London, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

A federal judge is hearing arguments Monday on whether she should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.

The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. The shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday has only added urgency to the case.

Since the original court filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request in an effort to restore the order that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota on Dec. 1. The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez to order a reduction in the number of federal law enforcement officers and agents in Minnesota back to the level before the surge and to limit the scope of the enforcement operation.

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And the president said the two “actually” seem to be on the same page in wanting to work together as it relates to immigration issues in Minnesota.

Trump said the people the administration is seeking “are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession” and Walz “very respectfully, understood that.”

“He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!” Trump wrote in a social media post which was notable for its warm and collaborative tone toward Minnesota’s governor, whom Trump frequently derides.

At issue is whether the federal court should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that’s led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.

In arguments before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, lawyers for the state and Twin Cities argued the situation is so dire on the street as to require the court to halt the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions.

“If this is not stopped right here, right now, I don’t think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said.

The Justice Department’s attorneys were set to speak later Monday.

Judge Menendez asked attorneys for the state and cities where she should draw the line between legitimate law enforcement response and one that violates the Constitution.

“The images of this incident are deeply troubling and a full and transparent investigation of this officer involved shooting must take place immediately,” the Republican who served during President Trump’s first term wrote on X. He also said he was praying for Alex Pretti’s family as well as Minnesota citizens and state and federal law enforcement officers.

“The American people deserve to have safe streets, our laws enforced and our constitutional rights of Freedom of Speech, peaceable assembly and the right to keep and bear Arms respected and preserved all at the same time,” Pence wrote. “That’s how Law and Order and Freedom work together in America.”

Pence is one of a growing number of Republicans to press for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota.

The attorney representing the family of Renee Good, who was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer earlier this month in Minneapolis, said in a statement that it was “terrifying, deeply disturbing, and heartbreaking” that another person had died.

“It is time for a hard reset,” attorney Antonio Romanucci said in the statement released Sunday. “ICE agents can leave Minneapolis. The residents of Minnesota cannot. We call for a complete and immediate end to the ICE invasion of this beautiful American city.”

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel, a Minneapolis attorney who provided legal support to the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good, ended his GOP campaign in a surprise video announcement Monday.

Madel called the recent immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities an “unmitigated disaster.”

“I cannot support the national Republican’s stated retribution on the citizens of our state,” Madel said. “Nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”

He was among a large group of candidates seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who dropped his reelection bid earlier this month. Madel described himself as a “pragmatist,” and said national Republicans “have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.”

“I have read about and I have spoken to help countless United States citizens who have been detained in Minnesota due to the color of their skin,” Madel said.

That support from the Republican governor for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement efforts came Monday as tensions in Minnesota ratcheted up over the weekend following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a federal agent.

DeSantis pointed to his administration’s signing of cooperative agreements with Homeland Security agencies when it comes to detaining people in the U.S. illegally as a model for other states. As he has before, DeSantis noted that state and local law enforcement agencies had detained nearly 20,000 people in the U.S. illegally in the past year.

DeSantis made no mention of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by a federal officer Saturday. Following the shooting, several Republican elected officials have questioned President Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown in Minnesota, but DeSantis was not among them.

Homan will report directly to Trump, the president said in a social media post, adding that Homan is “tough but fair.”

“He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there,” Trump said Monday morning.

A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a sign the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”

A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting.

▶ Read more about Republicans’ response to the shooting

The shooting of Pretti prompted some fellow Republicans to question Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown, but the president on Sunday night continued to blame Democratic officials.

After remaining relatively quiet on Sunday, the Republican president in two lengthy social media posts said that Democrats had encouraged people to obstruct law enforcement operations. He also called on officials in Minnesota to work with immigration officers and “turn over” people who were in the U.S. illegally.

“Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network.

Trump’s refusal to back away from his pledge to carry out the largest deportation program in history and the surge of immigration officers to heavily Democratic cities came as more Republicans began calling for a deeper investigation and expressing unease with some of the administration’s tactics.

▶ Read more about Trump’s comments

Leaders of law enforcement organizations expressed alarm Sunday over the latest deadly shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis while use-of-force experts criticized the Trump administration’s justification of the killing, saying bystander footage contradicted its narrative of what prompted it.

The federal government also faced criticism over the lack of a civil rights inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department and its efforts to block Minnesota authorities from conducting their own review of the killing of Pretti.

In a bid to ease tensions, the International Association of Chiefs of Police called on the White House to convene discussions “as soon as practicable” among federal, state and local law enforcement.

While questions remained about the latest confrontation, use-of-force experts told The Associated Press that bystander video undermined federal authorities’ claim that Pretti “approached” a group of lawmen with a firearm and that a Border Patrol officer opened fire “defensively.” There has been no evidence made public, they said, that supports a claim by Border Patrol senior official Greg Bovino that Pretti, who had a permit to carry a concealed handgun, intended to “massacre law enforcement.”

▶ Read more about the videos

The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. Saturday’s shooting by a Border Patrol officer of Alex Pretti has only added urgency to the case.

Since the original filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request. They’re trying to restore the state of affairs that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1.

The hearing is set for Monday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he plans to personally attend.

They’re asking that U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the numbers of officers and agents in Minnesota to levels before the surge, while allowing them to continue to enforce immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits.

▶ Read more about the hearing

Democratic senators are vowing to oppose a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security following the shooting death of a 37-year-old Minnesota man, a stand that increases the prospect of a partial government shutdown by the end of the week.

Six of the 12 annual spending bills for the current budget year have been signed into law by President Donald Trump. Six more are awaiting action in the Senate, despite a revolt from House Democrats and mounting calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment.

If senators fail to act by midnight Friday, funding for Homeland Security and the other agencies covered under the six bills will lapse.

Republicans will need some Democratic support to pass the remaining spending bills in time to avoid a partial shutdown. That support was already in question after Renee Good, a mother of three, was fatally shot and killed earlier this month by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. But the fatal shooting Saturday of Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse, quickly prompted Democrats to take a more forceful stand.

▶ Read more about the possible shutdown

A federal agent holds a person as the agents try to clear the demonstrators near a hotel, using tear gas during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A federal agent stands guard near a hotel during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)