defection

It comes as the party's annual conference gets under way in Birmingham, following the defection of former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries on Thursday evening.

She is the latest in a string of defections from the Conservatives to Reform UK, including former Welsh Secretary David Jones and ex-Tory Chairman Sir Jake Berry.

Tory sources cheerfully ripped into Simpson's character in the wake of his defection, saying that "of all our MSPs, they've got the worst of the lot".

Announcing the defection on Monday, Farage told the conference: "He's twice been elected as a Conservative but today he comes across to us as our first police and crime commissioner."

"They just take the money and go back home, very few people would think about defection."