Kemi Badenoch has taken a veiled swipe at Nigel Farage after admitting the upcoming Local Elections will be “extremely difficult” for the Tory Party.
Badenoch, who slammed Farage earlier this week for his reality TV appearances, kickstarted the Tory Party's campaign in Buckinghamshire.
Speaking at her campaign launch surrounded by loyal supporters, the Leader of the Opposition said: “This is not showbusiness. This is not a game.
"This is about people’s lives. This is not for us. It is for all those people out there who need credible politicians. That is what we’re offering.”
Kemi Badenoch takes huge swipe at Nigel Farage as she admits Tories face catastrophic defeatsGB NEWS
Badenoch appeared to be echoing her comments from recent interview with The Telegraph.
Renewing her feud with Farage, Badenoch also claimed Reform UK has “no experience running anything”.
In a stark admission about the electoral challenge facing the Tories ahead of the Local Elections, Badenoch added: “On May 1, we head to the polls.
“The last time we fought these Local Elections was four years ago. As Nigel [Huddleston] said in 2021, we were riding high with the vaccine bounce.
“This year will be different. It will be the first time since the General Election, the greatest defeat in our party’s history, that we fight these seats.
“And if you mapped that General Election results in 2024 onto this coming May, then we don’t win the councils we won in 2021; we lose almost every single one.
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Nigel FaragePA“But I think we’re going to do a bit better than that but we know that these elections will be extremely difficult.”
There has been no love lost between Badenoch and Farage since the pair first faced-off in the fight to lead Britain's centre-right.
Badenoch's North West Essex seat was identified as a major Reform target following last Boxing Day's bust-up over membership numbers.
Meanwhile, top Tories labelled this week's defection announcement a "sham" after a number of switchers had jumped ship weeks ago.
Badenoch's comments come after a group of former Tory bigwigs with "significant" backing from donors were mulling over when to launch a campaign to topple Badenoch.
Responding to reports of a "Unite the Right" campaign, Badenoch said: “I read it and I laughed.
Kemi BadenochPA"There is a phenomenon of wishful thinking where people want to do something and so they try and talk it into reality and make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“But look at Reform. Only five of them and they’ve already had a massive squabble and lost 20 per cent of their MPs. If they can’t unite with five people, how are they going to Unite the Right?”
Electoral Calculus's Local Elections forecast also suggests a difficult night for the Tories on May 1.
Badenoch is expected to lose control of Cornwall, Derbyshire, Kent, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire, with the Tories also losing as many as 426 councillors.
Reform UK would likely benefit from the drop in Tory support, picking up 474 councillors and emerging as the largest party in Derbyshire, Doncaster, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire.
