Nigel Farage boost as ex-Boris ally defects from Tories to Reform | Politics | News
A veteran Brexiteer who has been fighting to give Tory members more control over their party has “given up” on the Conservative Party and now believes Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is the country’s “last hope”. David Campbell Bannerman, a former MP who served as deputy leader of Ukip and later joined the Conservatives, argues that Mr Farage could be a “revolutionary prime minister” who would do more than just “fix” the nation.
He was known as a strong supporter of Boris Johnson, who opposed impeachment, and as co-founder of the Conservative Democrat Organisation, he pushed for local Tory branches to receive greater powers to choose future MPs. He claims that “decent, hard-working and dedicated members” are “treated by the centrist party with arrogance bordering on contempt”.
“The party is dying because it has driven out its lifeblood – its ordinary members – and treated them as stupid, ignorant and unworthy of consultation,” he warned.
He is concerned that “the Conservative party will always be revivalist and Left-leaning” because members are “not held accountable”.
Mr Campbell Bannerman will explain all his reasons for leaving the Conservatives and his hopes for Reform in an interview with the Sunday Express and in an article on Express.co.uk.
“I think this could be a truly revolutionary government,” he said. “And that’s exactly what we need.”
He admitted that most of the Conservatives he respected had already joined Reform UK and said he “might be one of the last to throw in the towel”. He sees Reform as the “true Conservative party” but also argues that “it is much more than an alternative Blue party, it is the party of patriots”.
The former public works executive hopes the Reform Government will make the most of the yet-to-be grasped Brexit opportunities and remove remaining EU laws from the statute book.
“We need to be refreshingly different,” he said. “We must scrap most of these EU laws that are devastating the economy in Germany, France and across the EU.”
Confident that Mr Farage has what it takes to be a successful prime minister, he said: “I have known Nigel for a long time and have always admired his courage, tenacity and political instincts.”
He now wants to work to help Reformation form a “revolutionary new government”.
Mr Campbell Bannerman’s move towards Reform comes at a time when the Conservatives are struggling to regain their position as the leading party on the centre-right. A new poll by Ipsos shows that when people were asked who the “main opposition to the Labor Government” was, 42% said Reform in the UK and 28% named the Conservatives. However, this represents a seven-point decline for Reform and a seven-point increase for Kemi Badenoch’s party since May.
