EXCLUSIVE: Tory defector begs Reform UK to avoid critical MISTAKE as he reveals 'final straw' reason for exit
Tim Montgomorie reveals why he decided to join Reform UK. He says …
GB News
A Conservative Party heavyweight who has just defected to Reform UK is imploring his new party to avoid making the same mistake.
Tim Montgomerie, founder of ConservativeHome and ex-Boris Johnson adviser, joined the burgeoning populist party on Tuesday afternoon after 33 years as a Tory member.
There are many reasons behind his decision to leave, which didn't come "without reservations", he tells GB News.
"There's been plenty of times when I thought about defecting but kept with the Conservative Party. In the end, the gap between what I believed and where the party was going just became too great, so I took the decision I did yesterday," he said.
It was ultimately the Conservatives' record on immigration that tipped him over the edge, he says.
It was ultimately the Conservatives record on immigration that tipped Tim Montgomerie over the edge, he says
GB News
The ConservativeHome founder explained: "The final straw for me was last Thursday's immigration numbers. And how many times I sat with a Tory over the last few years who said they were controlling immigration.
"Then we learnt last Thursday that immigration had hit record levels and it wasn't the channel crossings, it wasn't things beyond the conservative minister's control. It was actually within ministers' ability to control those numbers. And they let immigration get out of control."
He is referring to the Office for National Statistics admission last week that it underestimated net migration in 2023 by 181,000.
Estimates initially showed net migration stood at 685,000 in the year ending December 2023. However, the ONS has since confirmed the figure actually stood at 866,000, revising the previous number up by a city the size of Oxford.
This happened on the Conservatives' watch, despite the party pledging to reduce the number of people coming to the UK.
This "final deceit" drove Montgomerie to leave his party of 33 years and "hand over £25 to Nigel Farage and become a reform member", he tells GB News.
Unfortunately, the rot in his old party goes much deeper than any single issue, he laments, adding: "The trouble with the Conservatives is they have tried to please too many people and competing interest groups."
He's now praying that Reform does not make the same mistakes, although he's encouraged by what he has seen thus far.
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"The most important thing for Reform is hue to its principles. I think Nigel Farage knows what he believes in and that's rare in politics these days," he told GB News.
As Montgomerie sees it, Westminster is awash with power-hungry and unscrupulous politicians.
Farage, on the other hand, is "serious about trying to change this country", he says, adding: "He wants to win but is fundamentally energised by certain principles that I found very attractive - that's why more and more people are supporting Reform beyond my own defection."
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