Tom Waterhouse has left his role as general secretary of Reform UK, the party said, as it confronts renewed scrutiny over candidate vetting and the conduct of senior figures. A Reform UK spokesman said the party leader had appointed an interim general secretary. Staff at Reform’s Millbank headquarters were informed on Wednesday that Waterhouse was leaving.
Waterhouse, an experienced public affairs executive who previously worked in the Westminster think tank world and for the Crown Estate, had been recruited only in August last year. He had been at the center of Reform’s drive toward professionalization, a project that included a major recruitment push bankrolled by wealthy donors and the selection of candidates for a future general election.
His exit follows the case of George Madgwick, Reform UK’s leader on Hampshire County Council, who has been charged with 12 counts of rape and one count of distributing indecent images of a child. Madgwick was arrested in January over multiple alleged sexual offenses and remained in his role nearly 10 months later. He is scheduled to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on November 25 and denies any wrongdoing.
Asked why Madgwick was still in his role, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “I wasn’t very happy.” Farage has recently not concealed his unhappiness at continued failures over vetting and other matters.
The case severely embarrassed the party and again brought the question of Reform’s candidate vetting process into the spotlight. That process is now run by Paul Nuttall, Reform’s deputy chair and a former UKIP leader. Waterhouse’s departure also reflects continuing organizational turmoil at Reform.
Waterhouse had been involved with Adam Richardson, a long-standing associate of Farage, in the party’s internal investigation into two senior officials, James Orr and Dan Jukes. The investigation cleared them of breaking laws that ban foreign donations, although the matter remained under police investigation.
Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said: “As the scandals pile up for Reform, everyone is being forced to take the blame except Nigel Farage. Their general secretary is the latest fall guy, but we all know nobody in Reform makes a decision without Farage’s approval.” Labour had described Waterhouse as Reform’s “latest fall-guy” for problems at the party.
Reform’s spokesman said: “Tom Waterhouse has left his role with Reform UK. The party leader has now appointed an interim general secretary.”
Waterhouse is one of several figures seen as major assets to Reform’s push for power who have parted company or been sidelined in recent times. Tim Montgomerie, a high-profile activist who defected from the Conservatives, was suspended after he criticized Farage’s decision not to attend the count when Farage won the Clacton by-election.
Farage last month also blamed “staff incompetence” for a poor turnout and a half-empty hall during a Reform UK economic policy launch event in London.
For Reform, Waterhouse’s exit is a blow to the professionalization project he had helped lead. It comes as the party tries to move past questions about vetting failures and the Madgwick case. Madgwick’s scheduled court appearance on November 25 is the next formal step in the criminal case against him.