James Cleverly has launched a fresh scathing attack on Nigel Farage, as the Tory leadership hopeful claimed the Reform UK leader is out to "destroy the Conservatives".
Speaking to GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Cleverly hit out at the "imitators" within the Reform UK party and distanced himself from any possibility of a collaboration between the two forces.
When asked how he plans to beat Labour at the next election if he was to lead the Tories, Cleverly admitted that the party "needs to recognise that we lost votes to Reform and the Lib Dems", but also stressed that many Conservative supporters "stayed home" during the election.
Cleverly explained: "We've got to recognise that we lost votes to Reform and the Lib Dems and a whole load of Conservative stayed at home.
James Cleverly hit out at Nigel Farage in the latest Conservative attack on Reform UK
GB News / PA
"If we want to win, we have to win back voters from Reform and the Lib Dems, as well as those that stayed at home."
Swiping at Reform UK, Cleverly claimed that the party, who gained over four million votes at this year's general election, are a "pale imitation" of the Tories.
Cleverly fumed: "I think about half a dozen people across the country went directly to Labour, but not very many. So we need to demonstrate that we are a proper Conservative Party, because Reform is a pale imitation of us.
"We don't need to be a pale imitation of them, we need to be the best version of us."
Nigel Farage recently hosted a successful Reform UK party conference after surrendering his shares
PA
Pressing Cleverly on whether Nigel Farage would be "allowed in" to the Conservatives if the opportunity arose, the Tory candidate shut down all possibility of that happening, declaring that Farage is out to "destroy" them.
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Cleverly jibed: "He's not a Tory, he never claims to be a Tory, and he said he hates the Tories.
"He wants to destroy our party. He is not one of us. This is my family, this is my clan, these are the people I serve."
Admitting Tories have been "tempted by Reform" previously, Cleverly continued: "We need to win back Conservatives, true Conservatives who've been tempted across to support Reform.
"I don't blame them, I'm not going to tell them off - we dropped the ball and it is our fault. But it is in our gift to get them back. But we don't do that by making deals with people who say they want to destroy our party."
Cleverly told GB News' Christopher Hope that Nigel Farage 'wants to destroy' the Conservatives
GB News
Turning the discussion to Cleverly's past mistakes in cabinet, Christopher grilled the Tory hopeful on his "Rohypnol" joke made in late 2023, in which he admitted he "messed up".
Cleverly told GB News: "I was taking action on a really serious issue and I tried to do it in a light hearted way, it was wrong. It was crass.
"I apologised at the time, and my real frustration is that in doing that, it undermined the really serious work I was doing. That was totally my fault.
"But you take it on the chin, you accept the criticism, you recognise that you've done something wrong and you make good and you make amends. That is what I've done."