He defected to Reform. Eight months later, he wants out

Robbie Lammas thought Reform was the future. Eight months later, he wants out

Eight months ago, Robbie Lammas was exactly the kind of recruit Reform wanted.

He was a sitting councillor, a former Conservative parliamentary candidate, a former special adviser, and a former chief of staff to the chairman of the Conservative Party. When he quit the Conservatives for Reform last October, it was not just another councillor changing rosettes. It was proof, or at least meant to look like proof, that experienced Conservatives were beginning to see Nigel Farage’s party as their political future.

This week, he apologised for it.

Lammas has resigned from Reform after less than a year in the party, describing his decision to defect as “a huge mistake” and writing to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in the hope of returning to the party he left behind.

He quickly became deputy leader of Reform’s Medway group and was one of the party’s most prominent recruits in Kent. His departure is notable, but what he says about the party he is leaving is more so.

Speaking to Local Authority this week, Lammas described a growing sense of disillusionment that began almost immediately after he joined. He says the Reform he encountered bore little resemblance to the party he thought he was signing up to. The public image was slick, disciplined and ambitious. The reality, he argues, was something very different.

“I initially realised I made a mistake pretty much straight away,” he said.

That is not quite the same thing as saying he wanted to leave immediately. For several months, Lammas says he tried to make it work. He enjoyed reconnecting with grassroots politics after a period away from campaigning and initially found meeting local Reform members energising. But the longer he stayed, the more convinced he became that the party was not what it claimed to be.

When Lammas defected last October, he believed the Conservatives were in serious trouble. He points to debates around immigration, identity politics and the European Convention on Human Rights as issues where he felt the party had failed to understand the strength of public feeling. At the time, he could not see a route back.

“I didn’t imagine after the general election defeat, the Tory party would go to that position because I was pushing for that position inside before the election as hard as I could,” he said. “I was like, I think they’re doomed.”

Reform, by contrast, appeared to offer something attractive. Lammas says he was approached by figures within the party who argued it needed experienced Conservatives. The movement was growing rapidly but lacked organisational experience. He says he was told his background in politics was not a problem but an asset.

“I was told very clearly they wanted me to come over as a Conservative with my Conservative values and my experience.”

Looking back, he believes that was where he misunderstood what Reform actually was.

The timing of his defection, during Conservative Party conference season, was not something he wanted. He says he expected other defectors to emerge alongside him and was uncomfortable finding himself at the centre of the story. “They really made me stick my neck out there when I didn’t want to,” he said.

He hoped that once the headlines faded, Reform would be interested in drawing on his experience. Instead, he says he felt largely ignored. “Pretty much from the start, they didn’t want to know afterwards.”

That experience shaped much of what followed. Lammas says he joined believing Reform wanted experienced Conservatives to help build an alternative conservative party. What he found instead was a movement that often seemed deeply suspicious of the very people it was trying to recruit.

One of the first surprises, he says, was the attitude towards Conservatives. “I realised very quickly that they absolutely hate Conservatives,” he said. “Some of them hate Conservatives more than they hate Labour.”

Political parties often reserve their greatest hostility for rivals competing for the same voters. Labour members can sometimes sound more frustrated by the Greens than the Conservatives. Conservatives often spend more time complaining about Reform than Labour. But Lammas says what he encountered went beyond ordinary political rivalry. Rather than seeing him as someone bringing useful experience, some members viewed him as a representative of a political class they despised.

When he tried to use his experience to help the party develop, he says the response was often hostile. “It was met with such savage hostility, You’re just a Tory boy,’ ‘You should atone for your sins,’ all this kind of stuff.”

Asked whether he ever felt fully accepted within the party, Lammas said he did not. He believes part of the problem was that he never joined in with attacking his former colleagues. While other defectors were eager to distance themselves from the Conservatives, he remained openly proud of his past and continued speaking positively about people he had worked alongside.

“I never slagged off the Conservatives,” he said. “I was not prepared to do that.”

That position, he believes, marked him out. He says there was often an expectation that former Conservatives should publicly denounce the party they had left. Instead, he says, he remained largely consistent in his assessment of both Reform and the Conservatives, something he now thinks may have worked against him.

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The irony is that Lammas now agrees with one of the criticisms levelled at him on social media by Matt Johnson, former chair of Chatham and Aylesford Reform. Johnson argued that Lammas was never really a Reformer in the first place. Asked about that assessment, Lammas responds, “I’d probably agree with that.”

The difference is that Johnson sees that as evidence Lammas was a poor fit for Reform. Lammas sees it as evidence that Reform never really wanted what it claimed to want. He joined believing Reform wanted experienced Conservatives to help build an alternative conservative party. Instead, he says he discovered a movement that often seemed actively hostile to the people it was trying to recruit.

Johnson’s statement also contained one stranger observation. Among the signs that Lammas was never truly Reform, he suggested, was that Lammas remained too attached to mainstream media and consumed too much BBC content rather than alternative media and podcasts.

Lammas said the comment reflected a wider problem he encountered inside parts of Reform, where a political culture is shaped less by ordinary party debate than by online conspiracism and alternative media ecosystems. He “deals with untruths and online conspiracy theories,” he said of Johnson.

The exchange points to a wider cultural divide that runs through much of Lammas’ criticism. He expected to find a party full of conservatives. Instead, he says he found a coalition of people united primarily by frustration.

“The Conservative Party is like a family where you don’t even speak about what you have in common because it’s known,” he said.

By contrast, he argues, “Reform are united by grievance alone.”

That, he argues, creates problems once a party moves from opposition into power. Throughout our conversation, Lammas repeatedly returned to the distinction between identifying problems and solving them. He believes Reform is extremely effective at the former and far less interested in the latter.

“The problem I had with Reform is whilst they’re good at talking to grievances, that’s what they’re good at,” he said. “They don’t care necessarily about solutions or good governance.”

The criticism comes at a difficult moment for Reform nationally. The party has spent years positioning itself as a vehicle for protest. It now finds itself winning elections, controlling councils and facing questions about what governing actually looks like. Lammas believes many within the party have not fully adjusted to that reality.

“They see political office as things to grasp in order to create more noise to get Farage in,” he said. “They don’t care about the job. Well, you’ve got the job now.”

The argument is not entirely theoretical. Reform now runs Kent County Council. It holds two seats in Medway, and is preparing for another by-election campaign in Cuxton, Halling and Riverside. The question of whether it can transition from insurgent movement to governing party is no longer hypothetical.

To be clear, Lammas is careful not to direct those criticisms at everyone in the party. He repeatedly stresses that he has no issue with Medway Reform leader David Finch or councillor John Vye. “I’ve no problem with David Finch or John Vye,” he said. “I think David’s a very nice guy.”

In fact, he says the two remain friends and jokes that he may still end up at Finch’s house for a barbecue. His criticisms are aimed at what he sees as a broader culture within the party rather than individual councillors.

That culture, he says, also exposed him to things he found increasingly difficult to ignore. Discussing his experiences inside Reform, Lammas claimed he encountered racist views among some members and supporters.

“It’s not like everyone in Reform is racist,” he said. “It’s just that there are a lot of racists in Reform.”

He also described encountering people advocating forms of ethnic nationalism and recalled conversations with residents who associated recent experiences of racism with Reform’s rise. One such conversation took place while helping residents affected by the long-running Taylor Wimpey vibration issues in Princes Park.

A Sikh family, he says, told him they had experienced racism in England for the first time and attributed it to Reform’s growing prominence. “That made me feel very uncomfortable,” he said. “That’s not what I’m about.”

Reform was asked about Lammas’ comments on racism within parts of the party, but did not address the allegation directly in its response.

Having concluded that he could no longer remain in the party, Lammas has spent recent weeks trying to repair relations with the Conservatives. He jokingly refers to it as an “apology tour.”

Among those he has spoken to are local councillors, party members and former Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch. He says the response has been warmer than he expected. “I’ve met with local colleagues and the response has been universally positive.”

He has also written to Badenoch, apologising for leaving and praising what she has achieved since becoming Conservative leader. “I would like to [return] because Kemi has done a good job. She’s turning it around.”

Whether the Conservatives are willing to take him back remains an open question. The party declined to comment on individual membership applications, saying only that applications from sitting councillors are considered in line with party rules.

Medway Conservative group leader George Perfect said Lammas deserved credit for publicly admitting he had made a mistake. “I commend Cllr Lammas on his resignation. It takes a lot to publicly admit when you make a mistake,” he said.

Lammas says he understands there may be consequences for his decision. “I’ve mucked my people around,” he said. “I can’t expect everyone to forgive me.”

He also accepts that he may never again hold elected office. Asked whether he would stand as an independent candidate if the Conservatives refused to readmit him, he was unequivocal. “No,” he said. “Conservative or nothing.”

Reform’s response to Lammas’ departure has varied.

Locally, Finch struck a conciliatory tone. He said he respected Lammas’ decision, wished him well, and insisted the Medway branch continued to grow.

“At recent Reform UK Medway branch meetings, we have seen new members coming forward, previous members returning, and a real sense of energy, enthusiasm and determination for change,” he said. “Reform UK Medway is moving forward. We have a positive team, growing support, and a clear focus on standing up for residents across Medway.”

The response from Reform’s national press office was rather different.

Asked about Lammas’ criticisms, a spokesperson replied: “If he realised straight away, why did he keep on begging for a job in HQ? We have receipts.”

The party did not provide those receipts before publication.

Asked about the claim, Lammas dismissed it as “mud slinging.” “The truth is, I was offered a job, I turned it down.”

Eight months ago, Reform presented Lammas as evidence that experienced Conservatives were abandoning their old party for something new.

Now he says he realised almost immediately that the move was a mistake. He wants back into the Conservatives, accepts they may not take him, and says he will not stand again unless it is under their banner.

For Reform, the loss of one councillor does not change the balance of power in Medway. Finch and Vye remain, the branch says it is growing, and the party will soon test that claim in the Cuxton, Halling and Riverside by-election.

But Lammas’ departure leaves a more awkward question behind. If one of Reform’s most politically experienced local recruits concluded within months that the party was not what it appeared to be, what exactly is it building?

Footnotes

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