Asked how long she had been thinking about leaving the Conservatives, Dame Andrea said she had “always respected” Farage and had felt “politically aligned” with the party.

“I was tempted before the general election, but I am a loyal person to a party.

“I might not be loyal to prime ministers, as we’ve seen in the past, but I’m loyal to parties, and I believed, as I said, in going down with that ship fighting.

“I was elected as a Conservative, and I got knocked out as a Conservative, but I feel, unfortunately, the party has become tired.”

Dame Andrea had long made clear her sympathies with Reform UK, previously urging the Conservatives to unite with the party in order to prevent a Labour “supermajority”.

She also included a picture of herself with Farage on her campaign leaflet in the general election.

Last year, she publicly called on Rishi Sunak, her then leader, to step down as prime minister.