STORY
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has ruled out an electoral deal or coalition with Reform UK and criticised former Conservatives who have defected to Nigel Farage’s party. Speaking at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Badenoch described some of those who had left the Conservatives for Reform as among the most dishonest people she had met and said she did not want what she called “drama queens” returning to the party.
Former Conservative parliamentarians who have moved to Reform include former home secretary Suella Braverman and former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick. Badenoch said some defectors had left when the Conservatives were at a low point after having themselves contributed to the party’s problems. She also criticised Reform’s approach to policymaking and said the Conservatives would seek to win the next general election on their own terms.
Badenoch said she would not support a Conservative-Reform coalition even if the next election produced a hung parliament, arguing that another election would be preferable if no party could form a government. An Ipsos poll carried out between 30 July and 4 August put Labour on 28%, Reform UK on 25% and the Conservatives on 18%. The next general election must be held by August 2029, although it can be called earlier.