Seventy-eight per cent of voters think Kemi Badenoch is right to rule out any arrangement with Nigel Farage. Only 22 per cent want the Conservatives and Reform UK to join forces. Those are the findings of a Find Out Now survey carried out for The Mail on Sunday.
Mrs Badenoch laid out her position in an article for the paper last week. Of Reform, she wrote: “We are not the same and voters are not ours to trade like football cards.” She went on to say that “Reform dress like Thatcherites but act like Corbynites”, pointing to the party’s support for “a bigger state, more spending, nationalisation, gimmicks and unfunded giveaways”.
Her line goes down well with her own side. Sixty per cent of Tory voters back it. More striking, 52 per cent of Reform supporters agree with her too.
A shaky week for Farage
The timing suits the Tory leader. She has been gaining confidence after sharp performances in the Commons and a win in the Aberdeen South by-election. Mr Farage, by contrast, has had a bruising stretch. Andy Burnham beat his party in the Makerfield by-election, and his £5million donation from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne has come under heavy scrutiny. Friends say he “needs a rest”.
The poll puts Reform on 26 per cent, Labour on 19 and the Conservatives on 17. A hung parliament at the next election looks more likely to many observers. Mr Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street should give Labour a lift, though perhaps a short one, and the three parties could end up level.
Mr Farage is 62, with as much as three years to go before an election. If he decided he lacked the stamina to carry on, the poll suggests the Tories would pull within five per cent of Reform.
Personal ratings
On personal ratings, Mrs Badenoch is starting to close in on the Reform leader. Respondents rated her better at holding the Government to account, by 41 per cent to his 30 per cent. She also led on the economy, 17 per cent against 14 per cent.
Mr Farage keeps a three-to-one advantage on immigration. On the question of who would make the best prime minister, Mr Burnham and Mr Farage tie on 19 per cent, with Mrs Badenoch on 14 per cent.
There is one worry for the right. Labour sources indicate that Mr Burnham would be ready to make a deal with the Liberal Democrats after the next election and form a coalition. That could keep the Left in Downing Street for the best part of a decade, whatever the public thinks of a Tory-Reform pact.
