Kemi Badenoch rules out ‘monstrous’ pact with Reform UK: ‘They’re all over the place’
Kemi Badenoch has again ruled out a “monstrous” pact with Reform as she hits out at infighting within Nigel Farage’s party.
The Conservative leader dismissed Reform UK as “people fighting all the time” as she insisted voters would not back a “monstrous Reform-Conservative hybrid”.
It comes days after Tim Montgomerie was suspended from Reform on Tuesday after he criticised home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf for not being a “team player”.
He has been openly critical of Mr Yusuf in recent weeks and even publicly suggested in a podcast that “Nigel has fallen out of love with Zia”.
Mrs Badenoch referred to the internal disputes in Reform as she ruled out a Tory pact with Mr Farage, an idea Reform UK has also publicly ruled out.
“[Reform is] just people fighting all the time,” she reportedly told Iain Dale at Edinburgh Fringe.
“Nigel Farage dictates what he wants depending on what he had for breakfast that day, and they’re all over the place. How do I work with people like that?”
Speaking about her party’s win in the Aberdeen South by-election in June, Mrs Badenoch added: “If Reform had stood down in Aberdeen, no one would have believed we’d have won it on our own. They would have said we only got there because of Reform. So that’s why I say no deals.
“What I want is a Conservative government, not a monstrous Reform-Conservative hybrid, which will actually put as many people off as it gains.”
Mr Montgomerie told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that he is "going to fight" his suspension.
He said: "I think if that is the sort of censorship that the party wants to impose on me, that is not healthy.
"I'm gonna make this a test case of whether it is a party that can tolerate free speech and dissent."
He added: "I am going to fight this suspension. I want to stay in Reform. I believe that Reform's policies from immigration to crime to the ones that Robert Jenrick announced yesterday on welfare are the right ones for this country."
It is understood that Mr Montgomerie was suspended before the interview was broadcast, and Reform said its general secretary and chair “have had months of complaints regarding Tim’s behaviour and conduct. They saw fit to take action and protect the party”.
A senior Reform source also said the party would “never engage in the Tory briefing wars and toxicity that goes with them - the correct course of action has been taken. Disagreements should happen behind closed doors, not in the eye of the national media.”