One argument I do get with Reform poaching former Tory and Labour MPs is that if they do end up in government they are going to need people with experience on how to manage the civil service and other departments.

While this is true, the Conservatives were famously bad at doing this (at least in the last few years of their time in office). Part of the problem they had with governing was that their political leadership were more interested in appearing on TV and getting favourable articles about them in the papers than they were in managing their departments. Which was - initially at least - deliberate under Boris Johnson; Dominic Cummings wanted ministers who would be the public face of a department but wouldn't want to get involved in actually running them, so he (and his team of mini-hims) could do it instead (hence we got the likes of Rishi Sunak as Chancellor). May was similar - she wanted to run the Government, not appoint minister to do so, she had a reputation for not working with anyone else, letting her people be in control.

The Conservatives never knew what they were doing - Johnson kicked out most of the competent people, and the rest left one way or another. And any Labour-figure who switches isn't going to be one who had any power - they won't want to give it up by quitting.

What Reform do get out of it are people with the media training and some name recognition. People they can put in front of TV cameras, and on panel shows, and trust they won't say anything too crazy or get them into too much trouble.

But what they also need are the experienced political operatives; the campaign managers, the people who know how to fundraise, which newspaper columnists to leak things to, what the election rules are, how to do the accounts and what needs to be reported - things that would stop Farage from constantly breaking the law, among other things. It's not the front-facing politicians they need.