A defecting councillor has confirmed that Reform UK told its members to give up running Warwickshire County Council if George Finch lost the leadership – and how it caused "a lot of discontent".

In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Dan Glover has lifted the lid on a pile of local and national issues that prompted his switch from Reform to Restore Britain last week, one that Cllr Rob Aitkenhead made at the same time.

Cllr Glover detailed how he had "grown very disillusioned over the past few months", starting with Restore MP Rupert Lowe's high-profile exit from the Reform ranks followed by his former party welcoming ex-Conservatives Nadhim Zahawi and Robert Jenrick.

"If I wanted to be surrounded by Tories, I'd have joined the Tories," he said.

Added to that, he alleges the efforts of local activists ahead of May's elections for seats on Rugby Borough Council were stymied by "no support" from the national party, while "anti-democratic" top-down instructions to stand by Cllr Finch at all costs when his leadership was challenged in March went down like a lead balloon.

"I have thought about it," said Cllr Glover.

"I didn't want to make a rash decision, I sat on it for a while but I have made the jump. Reform isn't what I thought it was."

Reform councillors were told by Richard Tice MP and the party's head of local government Ben Bradley that not only must they turn out to back Cllr Finch in the Green-led vote of no confidence but that they must also refrain from standing an alternative if the worst happened.

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Instead, they were to pass the baton back to opponents to sort out who would run the council. It was made clear that failure to comply would break Reform's party rules.

That worst-case position caused disharmony in Warwickshire's Reform ranks but their will to follow the order was not tested as Cllr Finch survived 27 votes to 26.

"That did happen," confirmed Cllr Glover.

"There was a lot of discontent. It felt before the meeting, discussing with other councillors whether we thought that was going to happen, that a few were ready to go independent but then they seemed to just not.

"That was another factor. I didn't sign up for this anti-democratic thing where we were keeping George regardless – why would you give up the administration for the sake of one man? To me it is not that big a deal.

"He is good on social media, he is in the press but he is not a one-man band.

"I wanted him to win the vote of no confidence but had we not, I don't know what would have happened.

"It would probably have pushed me out of the door a lot quicker because I wouldn't have backed the whole 'keep George, give up the administration' thing. That did not sound like a good idea to me."

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Reform won three out of the 15 seats available on Rugby Borough Council in May, finishing directly behind the winning candidate in all bar one of the others.

It was a different story at Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council where Cllr Finch became leader of a second authority as a result of his group taking 15 out of 19 seats.

"There was no support from HQ, we couldn't get anything done," said Cllr Glover, one of the Reform candidates who missed out in Rugby.

"We weren't allowed to say or do anything, we just had to sit there and wait to not get elected. We could have won a lot more had we been able to put more on social media.

"Money was a problem, I'm not a wealthy man and did not have the money to throw at a campaign.

"Other parties seemed to be much more organised. We were running around on fumes.

"I suggested doing things and asking for forgiveness rather than permission but that didn't happen because (local party representatives) were concerned by what the consequences would be.

"They are all good people in the local party in Rugby, their hearts are in the right place. The vast majority in the Warwickshire group, their hearts are in the right place, but I think at some point a few more might jump. I hope so."

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Cllr Glover described the chances of more following to Restore Britain as "50-50".

Cllr Finch has been approached for comment.