Robert Jenrick has told a private meeting he will try to ensure that the Tories and Reform do not compete against each other at the next election, saying to do so would hand a second term to Keir Starmer.
In leaked commentsobtained by Sky News, the shadow justice secretary said he would “bring this coalition together … one way or another” – though a source close to Jenrick denied he meant a pact with the party and said he was referring to voters.
The comments from the former Conservative leadership contender – who is seen as a potential replacement for Kemi Badenoch if the party’s fortunes do not improve – are the clearest sign yet that the Tories do not believe they can win the next election while Reform remains an independent political force.
Speaking to the UCL Conservative Society dinner in late March, he said Nigel Farage’s Reform was doing “well in the polls. And my worry is that they become a kind of permanent or semi-permanent fixture on the British political scene.
“And if that is the case, and I say, I am trying to do everything I can to stop that being the case, then life becomes a lot harder for us, because the right is not united.
“And then you head towards the general election, where the nightmare scenario is that Keir Starmer sails in through the middle as a result of the two parties being disunited. I don’t know about you, but I’m not prepared for that to happen.
“I want the fight to be united. And so, one way or another, I’m determined to do that and to bring this coalition together and make sure we unite as a nation as well.”
A source close to Jenrick told Sky Newsthe comments were not advocating any kind of formal pact or merger.
“Rob’s comments are about voters and not parties. He’s clear we have to put Reform out of business and make theConservativesthe natural home for all those on the right, rebuilding the coalition of voters we had in 2019 and can have again. But he’s under no illusions how difficult that is – we have to prove over time we’ve changed and can be trusted again,” the source said.
Farage has previously ruled out any deal with the Conservatives even at local level such as council coalitions, saying “the Tories broke Britain nationally for 14 years, and their councils continue to break local communities with the highest taxes ever and worst services”.
Cabinet Office minister Ellie Reeves said: “Kemi Badenoch needs to urgently come clean as to whether she backs her shadow justice secretary in doing grubby deals with Reform behind the electorate’s back or if she will rule it out.
“If she disagrees with Robert Jenrick, how can her leadership have any credibility whilst he remains in her shadow cabinet?
“We know Kemi Badenoch has opened the door to deals with Reform at a local level, which Labour has categorically ruled out and now Robert Jenrick has let the cat out the bag. Between the Tories who decimated the NHS and Reform who want to make people pay for routine treatments, it’s a recipe for chaos.”
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Elections are due to be held inmore than 20 councils in Englandnext week, and Reform is hoping to make significant gains.
The Conservatives areexpected to take heavy lossesbecause the seats were last contested in 2021, during the Covid-19 “vaccine bounce” when Boris Johnson’s government was at the height of its popularity. Polling suggests several councils are likely to end up in no overall control on 1 May.
More than 60 of Reform’s council candidates are defectors from the Conservative party. Reform has selected an ex-Conservative as its candidate in theRuncorn and Helsby byelection, which is also taking place on 1 May, while the party’s mayoral candidate for Greater Lincolnshire is the former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns.
The Liberal Democrats said Badenoch should sack Jenrick for the comments. The party’s deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said: “The cat is out of the bag, senior Conservatives are plotting a grubby election deal with Nigel Farage.
“Kemi Badenoch should sack Robert Jenrick now if she’s serious about ruling out a pact with Reform. Anything less would show she’s either too weak to sack him or that she agrees.
“It’s little wonder that former Conservative voters, appalled by the party lurching further to the right, are switching to the Liberal Democrats in their droves.”