Suspended Reform UK member vows to fight to remain in party

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.