Conservative Party defector and political commentator Tim Montgomerie has told the BBC he has resigned from Reform UK, urging Nigel Farage to “get a grip” of the party.
Montgomerie defected from the Tories 18 months ago but was suspended from Reform UK last month after he criticised senior figures.
His decision to resign came after a conversation with Reform’s party chair Lee Anderson on Tuesday. “I think they wanted me back in the party but meekly,” he told the BBC. “And I wasn’t prepared to do that.”
Montgomerie said he still plans to support Reform and has no intention of re-joining the Conservatives.
“I want to still be a supporter, but that requires them being more like Reform and less like the AfD [Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Deutschland]”, he said.
The far-right AfD won a decisive victory in Germany’s eastern state of Saxony-Anhal this weekend, in what commentators said was a watershed moment as no far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two.
Among the AfD’s policies is a highly controversial plan for “remigration”, which is widely understood to mean mass deportations of migrants.
In the wake of controversial demonstrations against migrants in Dover and Portsmouth linked to Tommy Robinson this week, Montgomerie suggested Nigel Farage needs to go further in asserting his authority and professionalising the party.
“Nigel needs to get a grip, he needs to lead the party”, he said.
“The one thing he’s been brilliant at is policing the right and stopping [far-right activist] Tommy Robinson joining.
“But for the sake of his legacy and the sake of decency he needs to sort it out, and bring people like Zia [Yusuf] under control.”
Last month, Montgomerie told the BBC he was frustrated at Farage’s “aggrieved” tone after the Clacton by-election – and told the Spectator podcast that Reform’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf was not a “team player”.
At the time, Reform said he had been suspended “in line with party rules” after public criticism of the party.
Montgomerie joined Reform after a long career as a Tory adviser and commentator, and he had run the ConservativeHome website.
In a video statement on X after news of his suspension emerged on the Guido Fawkes website, Montgomerie said he still believed in Reform’s policies and its membership, and he was only trying to make the party “better and stronger” with his public criticisms.
Following his decision to quit, Montgomerie said: “I’m feeling very sad about it, I feel battered by it… When you get older there’s less fight in you.
“Reform is at a junction: They haven’t replaced the Conservatives which was plan A. I fear a battle of attrition between the two parties which will helps no one. The real danger now on the fight for political turf is that they go after sectional interests.
“Does Reform want to be a party of government or does it want to stand at the edge and just change the debate?”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We wish Tim the best for the future and thank him for his support.”
