Kemi Badenoch is facing calls to sack a Tory shadow minister after he said the Conservatives should “work together” with Reform UK.
Andrew Rosindell appeared to suggest an electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s party as he admitted his London seat would “almost certainly” fall to Reform at an election.
The Romford MP urged centre right candidates to “unite together” to defeat Labour and get Sir Keir Starmer out of Number 10.
Asked if he was thinking of defecting to Reform during an interview at the Conservative Party Conference on Monday, the shadow foreign minister told GB News: “Our electoral system can’t accommodate two parties that are broadly conservative.
“That means a divide in the vote and the calamity of another Labour government for five years, or even worse, a Labour government propped up by Liberal Democrats, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SNP, fruit and nut, and whoever else is around to prop Keir Starmer up in office. No thank you.
“I would much rather see people of like mind on the right of centre to work together.
“Now, Margaret Thatcher, when she was our leader, we had nothing, no party like Reform. That’s because everybody that’s in Reform today pretty much would have been part of the Conservative Party.
“So I think we need to get everyone working together to rescue our country from the disaster of this left-wing socialist Government.”
Mr Rosindell added that the Tories and Reform were “already aligning” on policies, including leaving the European Court of Human Rights and restricting benefits for immigrants.
“I think there’s enough in common between Reform and Conservative, and I would include the unionists in Northern Ireland, there are three right-of-centre groupings, for goodness sake,” he said.
“Let’s think about what’s best for our country.”
He described Mr Farage as “a good man” and “patriot”, adding “so is Kemi Badenoch, why can't they talk to each other and work together?”
A Liberal Democrat Spokesperson said: “Kemi Badenoch should sack Andrew Rosindell now if she wants to maintain any credibility.
“This is a shadow minister who has not just openly backed a Conservative pact with Reform but called Nigel Farage a ‘good man’.
“It's no wonder so many One Nation Conservatives are abandoning their party and turning to the Liberal Democrats.”
The Conservatives continue to battle dire poll ratings, with some surveys putting the party in fourth place behind Reform, Labour and the Lib Dems.
The Tory MP admitted he is “worried” that Conservative MPs including himself will lose their seats to Reform in the next election, and others to the Liberal Democrats.
On Mr Farage, he said: “He’s a good man. He’s a patriot, so is Kemi Badenoch. Why can’t they talk to each other and work together?”
The party has seen a number of high profile defections to Mr Farage’s party in the lead up its conference in Manchester this week.
Mr Rosindell added: “I'm worried about many of my colleagues who will not come back as MPs, including me. I think at the moment, my seat would almost certainly go to Reform. I think the whole of Essex would go Reform.
“And I think a lot of seats where good colleagues who are standing in Liberal Democrat facing areas would lose, because many of our voters would go Reform, reducing the Conservative vote. So let's try and rescue this, not for the party but for our country.”
