Tories criticised for suggesting Braverman has ‘mental health’ issues
Party apologises after initial comments on former home secretary’s defection to Reform branded ‘gutter politics’
DANIEL MARTIN, AMY GIBBONS, GENEVIEVE HOLL-ALLEN
The Conservatives have come under fire for suggesting that Suella Braverman has “mental health” issues.
After announcing her defection to Reform UK, a spokesman for the Conservatives said the former home secretary had been “very unhappy” and that the party had done all they could to “look after” her mental health.
An hour and a half later, the Tories were forced to apologise following a backlash from MPs and peers from across the political spectrum who described the statement as “appalling” and “nasty”, while Reform branded it as “gutter politics”.
It is understood that Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, did not sign off on the statement, which was sent out by the party’s central office.
Responding to the move, a Tory spokesman said: “It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect.
“The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy.”
A Reform UK source said: “It’s gutter politics, a sign of what the Conservative Party has become.”
Conservatives lined up to condemn the comment, with Lord Jackson, a Tory peer, writing on X: “What a nasty and unpleasant statement from the Conservatives. That’s another few thousand votes they’ve lost.”
Nigel Evans, a former Tory MP who was previously deputy speaker of the party, said the Conservatives should “withdraw that statement immediately, I think it’s appalling…
“It’s better to say nothing than to say something like that.”
Labour MPs were also critical, with Mike Tapp, the migration minister, saying: “I have no sympathy for Suella Braverman when it comes to politics and what she did to our immigration system.
“But the Tories attacking her mental health is below the standards we expect. British values are strong but decent, firm but fair. Neither the Tories nor Reform sign up to that.”
Josh Fenton-Glynn, a Labour MP, said: “This statement is horrible. Attacking someone on mental health is wrong.”
The initial Conservative statement, issued at 13:32, went on to accuse Mrs Braverman of defecting for reasons of “personal ambition” and claimed that Reform had done the Tories a favour by doing their “spring cleaning” for them.
The amended version was published at 15:08 with a note saying a “draft version of our response to the Suella Braverman defection was sent out in error earlier”, adding “with apologies”.
Mrs Braverman’s decision to leave the Tories two weeks after Robert Jenrick and Nadhim Zahawi has piled further pressure on Mrs Badenoch.
She has become the 27th current or former Conservative MP to defect to Nigel Farage’s party and has brought the number of Reform seats in the Commons to eight.
[…]
In an attack on her former colleagues, Mrs Braverman said: “I’m calling time on Tory betrayal. I’m calling time on Tory lies. I’m calling time on a party that keeps making promises with zero intention of keeping them.
“Britain is indeed broken. She is suffering. She is not well, immigration is out of control, our public services are on their knees, people don’t feel safe, our youngsters are leaving the country for better futures elsewhere.
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Featured image: The Telegraph
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