Political commentator Tim Montgomerie has told BBC Newsnight he will fight his suspension from Reform UK for criticising senior party figures in media interviews.
He said his appeal against suspension would be a test case of whether Reform could tolerate free speech.
The party said Montgomerie had been suspended in line with its rules after public criticism he made.
Montgomerie is a right-of-centre political commentator who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK in 2024, and who has seen himself as a critical friend of the party leadership.
But it seems he is now regarded as more of a critic and less of a friend – and has had his party membership suspended.
On Friday, Montgomerie had told the BBC he was frustrated by party leader Nigel Farage’s “aggrieved tone” after last week’s Clacton by-election.
And on a Spectator podcast on Tuesday, he had said another senior party figure, Zia Yusuf, needed to become a team player and should not act “like a child” in politics.
It is understood his suspension came after the podcast was recorded but before it was released.
“I am going to fight this suspension. I want to stay in Reform. I didn’t leave the Conservative Party lightly,” he told Newsnight.
“I think Reform can reach parts of the country that the Conservative Party never will be able to so I’m going to fight my corner in Reform and I’m going to make this a test case of whether it is a party that can tolerate free speech and dissent,” he added.
Montgomerie said he supported Reform’s policies on immigration and welfare, but he has also highlighted internal tensions in the party.
In a video statement on X after news of his suspension emerged on the Guido Fawkes website, Montgomerie said he was only trying to make the party “better and stronger” with his public criticisms.
He added that Farage did not know about the decision to suspend him, and he had warned the Reform leader when he joined the party that he would be critical at times, as he had been of the Tory leadership when he ran the ConservativeHome website.
Reform’s leadership will have to decide whether it is more politically difficult to rescind rather than to retain Montgomerie’s party membership.
