Reform defector MP sues after being locked out of Tory HQ and denied access to personal ‘panic room’

A Conservative MP who defected to Reform England earlier this year is now suing in the High Court after he was suspended from his office at the local Conservative HQ.

Andrew Rosundall, who has been the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, joined Nigel Farage’s party in January to become London’s first Reform MP, declaring that the Conservatives were “irreparably committed to the mistakes of previous governments”.

For more than 20 years he has used a private room in the Romford Conservative Association’s Margaret Thatcher House as his constituency office.

But last Wednesday, the association changed the locks overnight and denied him access to the building.

Now he’s suing, claiming the local association has no right to exclude him and asking the judge to order him back in.

The former Tory says he has concerns about his “personal safety” after being denied access to his personal “panic room” at work due to the lockout, among other complaints.

The case reached London’s High Court yesterday afternoon seeking an urgent injunction, but the case was adjourned by a judge after it was heard the association had only been given 90 minutes’ notice.

Mr Rosundall, a 60-year-old veteran politician, served as a Conservative MP for decades before announcing in January that he was joining Nigel Farage’s party.

In a statement, he claimed that “the views and concerns of voters like me in Romford have been consistently ignored for too long.”

“Our country has experienced a decline that has been managed for a generation,” he said. “Radical action is now needed to reverse the damaging decisions of the past and chart a new path for Britain.”

Mr Justice Pepperall was told in court that Mr Rosundall had made exclusive use of an office at Margaret Thatcher House for decades and shared other parts of the building, including the campaign room.

But after joining Reform he was told by the association that he could not stay because his status as a Conservative MP was an “implicit condition” of his right to hold the post.

On the night of March 18 last week, the locks on Margaret Thatcher House were changed and Mr Rosunull was unable to enter the election office.

This led to him applying for an urgent injunction on Monday this week, forcing the association to let him back in.

His lawyer, Adam Richardson, told the judge the deputy wanted “full and unrestricted access, including keys, key fobs and security codes.”

“The respondent removed the applicant from the building by changing the locks and denying access. No court order was obtained from the respondent,” he said.

“The applicant has occupied this building continuously for over 20 years as his official parliamentary constituency office.

“This occupation was open and known to the defendant at all times. This occupation was governed by successive written agreements described as service contracts, the last of which was dated December 12, 2025.

“The building functions as a working parliamentary office and contains active constituency cases and sensitive voter registration; parliamentary IT systems and communications equipment; office furniture and infrastructure; parliamentary equipment… and security systems including controlled access, CCTV and a panic room.”

He said he was “excluded” despite the association granting limited access to Mr Rosunull’s staff to take his laptop and some other belongings.

“He is unable to access the electoral office, active case studies, IT systems or security arrangements established for his personal safety,” he said.

“The exclusion continues and materially impairs the applicant’s ability to discharge his duties as an MP.

“Exclusion causes immediate and daily harm to the discharge of parliamentary duties.

“Constituents are unable to communicate with MPs as usual. Ongoing casework is frozen. The applicant is unable to perform surgery or respond effectively to urgent submissions from their constituents.

“The facilities also feature dedicated parliamentary security infrastructure, including controlled access systems, CCTV and a panic room.

“These systems were established for the personal security of the applicant as a member of parliament. The applicant currently lacks these basic security measures.”

He added: “The correct course would have been to seek possession through the courts. “Instead the defendant took the law into his own hands.

“Such conduct is unlawful regardless of the final determination of any dispute regarding the validity of the regulations.”

Lawyer Alison Wu, on behalf of the association, said the application for an injunction should not be heard in cases where it was served only 90 minutes before the hearing.

The association claims it was “implicit” in the agreement that his ability to exercise the post depended on him being a Conservative MP.

Postponing the application until next week, Mr Justice Pepperall said he could not understand how urgent the application was to need to be heard at such short notice, especially given that the MP had not yet completed a request form.

He continued: “The lockout took place on the evening of Wednesday, March 18. I hear about this on Tuesday, March 24.

“Given that an urgent application must be made, it is surprising that the lawyers did not find it appropriate to prepare the request form and an appropriate application notice by Friday last week at the latest.

“Instead, an hour and a half’s notice was given. This is grossly inadequate. There is no good reason not to give a longer notice.”

The judge deferred the application until Mr Rosunull’s lawyers brought a case against the Romford Conservative Association.

The claim will be filed by Wednesday this week, lawyers said.