Badenoch rules out Reform deal, calls defectors 'most dishonest people'

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has ruled out any coalition or electoral pact with Reform UK, describing defectors to Nigel Farage's party as "some of the most dishonest people" she has ever met. Speaking at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, she insisted she would rather face another general election than form a "monstrous Reform/Conservative hybrid" government.

Badenoch's remarks, reported by multiple outlets covering her appearance with LBC's Iain Dale, were her most direct repudiation yet of any working relationship with Reform. She attacked the party's stability and Farage's leadership, saying: "Nigel Farage dictates what he wants depending on what he had for breakfast that day. They are all over the place, they announce one policy, they forget it the next day." She added that Reform is "just UKIP with different colours."

The Conservative leader also ruled out allowing former Conservative MPs who defected to Reform to return to the party. "Reform has people who left the Conservative Party, some of the most dishonest people I have ever met in my entire life," she said. "These are people who left us when we were at our lowest, many of them the people who caused the problems in the first place and then ran away and pretended they had nothing to do with it. Why should we have them back?"

Badenoch said she does not want "drama queens" in her party and is not entertaining indirect approaches from former colleagues. She criticised defectors including Robert Jenrick, the former shadow justice secretary, who was sacked by Badenoch before joining Reform. Jenrick has called his former party "rotten" and "failed".

Asked whether rejecting a deal with Reform could open the door to a Labour–Liberal Democrat coalition in a hung parliament, Badenoch said a fresh election would be the better option. She warned that "the country is going to be in a pretty bad place" if the Conservatives fail to form the next government, and said she wants to "win on my own terms" at the next general election.

"I want us to unite the country. It is not about uniting the right, it is about uniting our country," she said. "I want only the very best, only the brightest, only the most hardworking, to be Conservative MPs."

Badenoch also spoke about Scotland, saying she feels "a pull to Scotland" and describing the relationship with the SNP as "very dysfunctional". She praised Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, saying he should be first minister.

Reform targets her own seat

Badenoch's tough talk comes as Reform UK sets its sights on her own constituency. Nigel Farage has said his party will "pump big resources into Essex" because it sees the area as "very winnable", including the seat of the Conservative leader.

Residents of Saffron Walden, a medieval market town of 19,000 in Badenoch's North West Essex constituency, told The i Paper they are sceptical about Reform's chances. Local voters cited concerns about over-population and lack of infrastructure, but many said they would stick with the Conservatives to keep Reform out.

"People here would vote Conservative if it was a sock on a stick, that's why Kemi was parachuted in here," said Jenny Gibson, a Labour voter who would back the Tories to block Reform. Labour came second in the seat in 2024, and Electoral Calculus gives Reform a 22% chance of winning it, with the Conservatives on 64%.

Reform has made gains across the East of England, taking control of Thurrock, Suffolk, Essex and Havering borough councils. In Saffron Walden, the only Reform UK member on the town council, Heather Asker, defected from Residents For Uttlesford in March, saying Reform's victories "speak volumes". The party has not yet selected a candidate for North West Essex.

Lisa Courtney, a resident, said a Reform-run Essex council has made "absolutely no difference" to the town's practical running.

Political context

The exchange takes place against a backdrop of shifting poll numbers. An Ipsos voting intention poll from late July to early August put Labour on 28%, Reform UK on 25% and the Conservatives on 18%. The next general election must be called by August 2029.

Andy Burnham, now prime minister, previously ruled out calling an early general election after Labour's 2024 landslide win.