A civil war within Reform UK has intensified after senior party figure Tim Montgomerie was suspended for criticising home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf, prompting him to vow he will fight the decision as a "test case" of whether the party tolerates free speech and dissent. The row exposes deepening tensions at the top of Nigel Farage's party and threatens to overshadow what should otherwise have been a strong week following Farage's return to Parliament.

Montgomerie was suspended on Tuesday after telling a podcast that Yusuf was not a "team player" and had "freelanced" on Twitter, including over the endorsement of Conservative defectors Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick. He also claimed Farage had not been informed of the suspension in advance, though Reform said its general secretary and chairman acted after "months of complaints" about his conduct. The dispute follows Farage's own public criticism of Yusuf last week for calling former defence secretary Ben Wallace a "traitor", and comes just days after Farage won the Clacton by-election to return to Parliament.