WATCH: Andrew Rosindell tells GB News he is 'frightened of where the 'country is heading'

That's right, Tom. What we're doing now is Andrew Rosendale

the new Reform UK MP for Romford. Why have you jumped now, Andrew Rosendale

I am tired of the way this country is heading. I want this country to be rescued from this disastrous socialist government

The only way that's going to happen is if Nigel Farage is our next Prime Minister

That much is clear. It may be that Conservatives and Reform in the end have to work together

but this country needs radical change. we need to reform this country because at the moment we're heading in a spiral downwards

So I think this is the right time to make a stand and to show my constituents and the British people

that we need to unite to rescue our country. How are you feeling? It's emotional for you because you've been an MP since 2001

You're the only Tory MP who won their seat after that first Tony Blair landslide

Yes, I've been an MP nearly 25 years and I've always been a committed conservative

and an admirer of Margaret Thatcher. So it is hard to leave a party you've been a member of for 45 years

But I believe that our country is more important than any political party

Putting Britain first has got to be the objective of why we're in politics

And so I think I look at the country today and I'm quite frightened about the way we're heading

and we need something radical. We can keep this seesawing between Labour Conservative and Labour Conservative and nothing much changing We need something radical something new to rescue Britain Your political heroine is Margaret Thatcher What would she have made of your decision

Well, I believe Margaret Thatcher always put this country's interests first. And I think she would have ysed the way things are today and would realise that we need to come, the rights need to come together

I don't think that her priority was the party over the country

She would always put the country first, and that's exactly what I'm going to do

So she might have joined reform as well. I wouldn't like to speak for Mrs Thatcher, but she was first and foremost a patriot

And I think she would have done whatever was necessary to put our country first

I mean, Winston Churchill wasn't in the same party all the time. Margaret Thatcher was. I would have preferred everything to be Conservative

But, you know, if the Conservative Party hadn't changed and gone into the mushy middle, as we saw in those 14 years, there wouldn't be a reform party

If Margaret Thatcher was here today, it would all be Conservative. But it hasn't worked out like that

So I think we've got to be realistic and think about the best interests of the United Kingdom

Cynics would say you're jumping to save your seat in the next election. It's quite a split seat between Tory and reform votes, according to polling and other ways of calculating that

are you jumping to save your political skin? I have won it against the trend every election

basically It should have gone Labour last time but I got a much lower swing against me in Romford than other neighbouring seats Who knows what would happen I think I could win it as a Conservative I could certainly win it as Reform

But actually, with me as a candidate, people voting Reform and people voting Conservative, they're getting the same thing

So it's uniting the right in Romford. Will you call a by-election

So, the cost of a by-election is really, frankly, unjustifiable. But democracy has always cost money

We are elected, all MPs are elected as individuals. We're not elected as a party

We're elected as a person. So I don't really see the need for a by-election

I think the most important thing is to organise ourselves, ready to fight and win the general election

when the whole of the country can vote to get rid of this disastrous Labour government

You stood down as a member of Priti Patel's shadow foreign affairs team

Have you offered a job, similar job within the Reform UK ranks? No, I'm not really seeking jobs and titles

And I think that's one of the problems with this place over here. Everyone wants a title

Everyone wants to be a dame or a knight or a peer or have a ministerial job

I'm about doing things. I'm about standing up for the right principles

It's not about being someone. It's about doing something for your country

So I will do whatever I need to do working with Nigel and Reform

but also working with my colleagues in the Conservative Party my former colleagues Let work together for the interests of our country How many more MPs might come with you into Reform UK I couldn answer that Maybe a dozen by May the 7th

It's a very, very personal decision. It's a tough decision to make. What did it for me

I mean, Robert Jenrick, absolutely fantastic guy. You know, he would have been..

I don't think we'd be in this position today if we'd elected Robert Jenrick as our leader

And what happened to him, I just... Yes, Kemi should have asked him to stay, but she didn't

She let him go. In fact, he was thrown under a bus, from what I can see. I was ashamed of that

Also, the Chagossian situation, we aren't even offering them self-determination. We've sort of only half-heartedly fought this whole disgraceful betrayal

I can't put up with this any longer. So if Kevin Baddock had kept Robert Jenner last Thursday

you would still be a Tory MP? Well, I think that, frankly, for a long time now

I've been thinking about going to reform because I've been a friend of Nigel's for 25 years

I've always admired him. We've always been friends. And we've agreed on pretty much everything over those years

And I do think he's going to be a very good prime minister for this country, but he needs a good team around him

And I'm prepared to support him and work with him because I think his only ambition really

is to look after Britain. And my God, don't we need a change? This government is a disaster

And I think that the idea of Nigel coming in and shaking the country up and reforming Britain for the better

is exactly what we need. Andrews Rosendale there, the new Reform UK MP for Romford

Thank you for joining us