Nigel Farage's Reform UK has outpolled the Tories (Image: Getty)
Senior Conservatives are calling for Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage to strike a deal to save the country “we all love” from another half-decade of Labour in power.
Tories who are desperate to oust Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves want the Conservatives and Reform UK to reach an agreement and stop the centre-Right vote splitting at the next election.
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There are even calls for the Tory and Reform activists to start working together in the May local elections.
Lord Mackinlay – a former Conservative MP who was also deputy leader of UK – urged the parties to agree a deal to avoid the harm he believes would be caused by a decade of Labour in power.
He said: “I have said repeatedly that the danger to our country of an ongoing, and heaven forbid, re-elected socialist government is so great that it is the duty of Parties of the right to do whatever is necessary to stop them. The inescapable conclusion is that Conservatives and Reform need to work together to stop the ongoing damage to the country we all love.”
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The peer warned that decisions in Westminster can “permanently damage a nation” and pushed for “serious discussions” before the next election.
The calls to avoid splintering of the Right-wing vote and letting Labour win power again come just days after the Bank of England halved the growth forecast for this year to just 0.75% and warned of a hike in inflation.
Conservative MP Peter Bedford said: “As Conservatives we should be pragmatic and ensure that all options that maximise the chance of removing this hard-left socialist Government remain open.”
A former Tory minister warned: “You can’t have two parties competing on the Right of politics because inevitably that will help Labour to win.”
He fears that if Reform stands across the country Labour will be able to “creep” back into power with an even smaller share of the vote than the 34% they won in the summer election.
Alarm at the rise of Reform has intensified in both Conservative and Labour circles after a series of polls showed it is the most popular party. A Find Out Now poll put Reform on 29% – four points ahead of Labour and 11 points in front of the Tories.
Former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said a Tory-Reform pact would be “devastating for the socialists” and could pave the way for a “truly Conservative coalition”. He wants activists to cooperate ahead of May’s local elections.
He told the Sunday Express: “I would support informal local election pacts between the Conservatives and Reform. It would help to build up trust and show the public how much common ground there is between us.”
A high-profile Conservative who has been at the heart of power machinations in the party said: “I think we should keep channels open and see how things develop.”
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman also wants to “unite the Right”, recently warning “there isn’t space in British politics for two conservative parties”.
And a Tory peer said: “I certainly believe we need a Tory-Reform pact at parliamentary level.”
David Campbell Bannerman, a former deputy leader of Ukip who now chairs the Conservative Democratic Organisation, suggested there could be agreements at a “local level” which would see one candidate make way for another if they signed up to a “common mission and policy stance”.
But a spokesman for Tory leader Mrs Badenoch said “reports of a Tory-Reform pact are complete and utter nonsense,” adding: “The Conservative Party will not negotiate with people who want to destroy us.”
However, a former Conservative cabinet minister welcomed the impact Reform has already had on Mrs Badenoch’s party, suggesting that new policy of denying migrants who have claimed benefits the right to settle in the UK through the indefinite leave to remain process was in response to pressure from the rival grouping.
He said: “I think that Reform has got to keep up the pressure on the Tories. If they don’t, we won’t see any sensible policy development from Kemi.
“[The announcement on indefinite leave to remain] was a step in the right direction, but it was pretty faltering. If the Conservatives don’t start seeing council seats going in Reform’s direction, they won’t change.
“I’m afraid that they still think that they have a God-given privilege to be the standard-bearer for the Right in this country. That delusion will start to evaporate when they see seats haemorrhaging away from them.”
The impact that Reform can have on a race was demonstrated in Rother Valley at the last election. Incumbent Conservative candidate Alexander Stafford lost to Labour won by just 998 votes – with Reform taking 7,679 votes and finishing third.
Mr Stafford said: “I don’t think we need any official deal with Reform, but I think it’s madness in places where Reform will never win or came a distant place behind the Tories for them to stand and split the vote. The important thing is to not split the vote to stop Labour getting back in.”
Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries warned that any attempt to bring Reform and the Tories together would split the Tories.
She said: “Almost half of Conservative MPs aren’t actually Conservatives or even know or understand the principles of Conservatism and would be more comfortable as Lib-Dems. They would recoil at the prospect of being aligned to Reform and being identified with Right-wing social, free market or economic policies.
“If the prospect of a pact or a merger were proposed by either Badenoch or Farage, the Conservative party would undoubtedly split. It is almost ungovernable with the present MP demographic.
“Therefore, the chances of any kind of pre-election pact are almost certainly zero.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp predicted the Tories will be able to win without Reform, saying: “make a strong enough case to win the next general election” but warned that if “Conservative-minded” vote Reform “it simply hands victory to Labour and we saw that last July in dozens and dozens of seats across the country”.
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe showed no enthusiasm when asked about the potential for a Tory-Reform link-up.
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He pointed to how then-Brexit Party leader Mr Farage stood down candidates in Tory-held seats in 2019, helping pave the way for Mr Johnson’s landslide win.
He said: “Nigel stood down in all the Tory seats last time and gave Boris an 80 seat majority. Tell me what he did with it...
“He didn’t even do Brexit well. We had the Northern Ireland protocol so we got most of Britain out but we left a leg in the wretched socialist empire in Europe.”
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Reform's Rupert Lowe has new plan to stop the boats and vows it will only take 3 months
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Brendan Clarke-Smith, a former Conservative MP who lost his Bassetlaw seat to Labour by 5,768 votes with Reform taking 9,751, said: “I found out to my peril that having two parties on the right simply splits the vote and helps let Labour in. But I didn’t lose my seat because Reform stood against me. I lost my seat because Conservatives were angry and stayed at home.
“Labour won despite performing poorly and there is now even less appetite for them.”
The Conservative historian Lord Roberts backed the Tory leader’s position, saying: “Kemi Badenoch is quite right not to make any overt pact with Reform, which wishes to replace and destroy us.”