Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party has lost its only MP after Andrew Bridgen quit the group over a “difference in direction”.
The North West Leicestershire MP said it had been an “incredibly difficult decision” and insisted he still supported the “policies and values” of Reclaim.
Mr Bridgen said he was making the decision ahead of the general election expected in 2024.
Bridgen statement
He said: “This morning, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to resign from the Reclaim Party. I would first of all like to thank Laurence and all of the team at Reclaim who have been excellent and supported me wholeheartedly for the last nine months.
“I have come to this decision purely because of a difference in the direction of the party, I will still wholeheartedly support the policies and values of the Reclaim Party and wish them all of the best in their future endeavours.
“However, I need to make a very important decision with a general election pending in the first half of next year. I need to put North West Leicestershire first, above any party allegiance.
“I will continue standing up and fighting for the people of North West Leicestershire and delivering what is best for them.”
Conservative Party
Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party in April over a social media post in which he described Covid-19 vaccinations as “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”.
In his statement resigning from Reclaim, he said: “I have been standing up for those who have been injured by vaccines and exposing the worrying cover up of trends in excess deaths on a national and indeed global scale.”
Reclaim said the party and Mr Bridgen remained aligned across numerous policy areas but both felt they were better positioned to work independently.
Party leader Fox said: “It has been a pleasure working with Andrew. He is a man of great bravery and we remain hugely supportive of his campaigning on a number of issues.
“He rightly sees his role to raise issues of concern to his constituents. There are too few in parliament prepared to do that.
“He has been an excellent constituency MP and we wish him every success in his bid for re-election in North West Leicestershire. As a reflection of that support, we have made a considerable donation to Andrew’s campaign fund.”
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