KEMI Badenoch has refused to rule out coalitions with Reform UK at local level after the upcoming local elections in England.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, the Tory chief said there would be no pact with Nigel Farage's party at national level – but added that the situation at council level is "different".
Asked if she will forbid councillors from going into a coalition with Reform in the coming local elections, she said: “I want to be extremely clear, because people have often been confused by this.
“I’m not going into any coalition whatsoever with Nigel Farage or Reform at national level.”
She added: “At local level, it’s different.
“In the national election, you can rerun the election, at local level you can’t.
“So there might be no overall control.
“And what I’ve said to our councillors, I trust these people, they’re very smart, they’ve been doing this for decades, is that you have to do what is right for your local area.
“At the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with Independents, we’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.
“They have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and seeing how they can deliver for local people.
“What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch ups or people planning things before the result is out.
“They have to do what’s right for their community.”
Voters in 23 local authorities across England will go to the polls on May 1 to choose their new councillors, with mayors also up for election across six regions.
It will be the first big electoral test for the parties since last summer’s General Election, and more than half of the council seats up for grabs are currently held by the Conservatives.
Reform UK are standing more candidates next week than the Conservatives and Labour, and is contesting 99.4% of the available seats.
The party has consistently polled higher than the Tories in recent months.
Meanwhile, Labour have made a number of unpopular decisions in Government, a senior minister has acknowledged, but insisted their agenda was starting to bear fruit.
Pat McFadden, a senior Cabinet Office minister, was asked by Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips about Labour trailing behind Reform UK in opinion polls ahead of the coming local elections.
He told the programme: “Look, we had some tough stuff to sort out after the election last year and I accept that some of those decisions have not been the most popular, but we are starting to see things turn around now.”
