A Reform councillor has quit the party just months after defecting from the Conservatives as he called the move the “biggest mistake of my life”.
Robbie Lammas, the former deputy leader of Reform UK on Medway Council, has branded Nigel Farage’s party “unfit to govern” eight months after he joined.
Now an Independent councillor, he has claimed he felt “misled” by Reform and that he was now hoping to rejoin the Conservative Party.
"I'm going to leave Reform, I've had enough, it's not what I signed up to, and I feel I've been misled,” he told the BBC.
“But moreover I’ve realised I’ve made probably the biggest mistake of my life.”
Cllr Lammas declared the Conservative Party was “over” when he defected to Reform UK in October 2025, but has now written to Kemi Badenoch to apologise.
“I left the party I love because I thought the party was over. This was back last year when the Conservatives were not announcing any policy. They had not yet committed to leaving the ECHR,” he said.
“Kemi has turned it around.”
He said while Reform are “good at spin” they “struggle with good governance”, and added he believes he was used by the party at the time of his defection “for a good news story”.
“I was told at the time there would be lots of people coming over. There would be one or two MPs. I would sort of slip in quietly. I did not want to go for a fanfare,” he said.
He added: “I am embarrassed about it. It was a huge mistake.
“Lots of others from Reform have told me they too feel it was a mistake to defect but they're not in a position to publicly admit it, but for me I'm happy to admit I've made a big mistake.”
The Independent has contacted Reform UK for a comment, but a spokesperson told The Mirror: “Cllr Lammas was previously suspended whilst being investigated for his conduct, resulting in a formal warning. He also applied for a job within the party and was subsequently rejected.
“Reform delivered huge victories across the UK in our recent local government elections, now controlling over 30 councils. We look forward to successful elections in Medway soon.”
In the month since May’s local election Reform UK have lost 15 of 1,454 elected councillors.
Five by-elections have been triggered by councillors who won seats for Reform UK on May 7 and who subsequently stood down, for reasons to do with health, workload or personal conduct.
Two of these seats became vacant following the resignation of Stuart Prior, who was elected to both Rochford and Essex councils on May 7 but who stood down a few days later following claims he posted offensive remarks on social media, while the contest in St Helens is to replace Stephen Mousdell, who resigned after it emerged he had made adult video content.
Meanwhile, the party is fighting a crucial by-election against Labour’s Andy Burnham in Makerfield this week.
Latest polling suggests Restore Britain voters are set to sweep Mr Burnham to victory in the contest, as a split in the right-wing vote could hamper Robert Kenyon’s chances.
According to the poll, the mayor of Greater Manchester has a narrow lead – on 46 per cent – while Mr Kenyon trails five points behind on 41 per cent.
Meanwhile, Restore Britain’s Rebecca Shepherd is on roughly 7 per cent. It means she could be the deciding factor in swinging the contest in Mr Burnham’s favour – and determining whether he will return to Westminster to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.
