Kemi Badenoch has dismissed the prospect of facing a Tory-Reform "Unite the Right" toppling plot after taking a swipe at Nigel Farage over Rupert Lowe’s suspension.
The Leader of the Opposition, who yesterday delivered her biggest policy commitment since Rishi Sunak in November, provided a stark account of her reaction to reports suggesting a Conservative cabal is already circling around her ahead of the 2025 Local Elections.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Badenoch said: “I read it and I laughed. 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?”
Kemi Badenoch
PATaking aim at Farage, the Leader of the Opposition added: “This isn’t I’m A Celebrity or Strictly Come Dancing. You don’t vote for the person that you’re enjoying watching and then switch off when the show’s over."
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.
The Sunday Times reported that the "Unite the Right" campaign will be "explicitly agnostic", adding plotters will look to remove Badenoch "sharpish" as "more and more MPs realise she's doomed".
Nigel FaragePAInsiders even mooted mimicking the relationship between the CSU and CDU in Germany, with the Tories concentrating efforts on the shires and Reform aggressively targeting the Red Wall.
However, Reform UK dismissed speculation about supporting any form of electoral alliance.
“There is no deal," a Reform UK spokesman said. "The only reason the Tories are talking about it is because their poll ratings are about to fall off a cliff.”
Farage met with Boris Johnson's former No10 chief Dominic Cummings for dinner late last year to discuss the future of the Conservative Party, Donald Trump's return to the White House and Elon Musk's Washington efficiency push.
The meeting fuelled speculation about Cummings joining Reform's ranks to ensure the populist party supplants the Tories.
However, Farage rejected the suggestion that the meeting was anything more than two Westminster titans bringing a bitter rivalry to an end.
Kemi BadenochPASpeaking to GB News about the meeting, the Clacton MP said: "Well, I met him to talk about 'the Blob' and what were the practical problems of coming into Government and not being able to do what he wanted to do."
The Reform UK leader added: "He and I have never got on, so it's never a bad thing to sit and talk with someone you've never got on with and try and find some sort of peace but I was interested in what he had to say."
Farage also told the People's Channel that Cummings would not join the populist party's ranks and dismissed the suggestion the ex-Vote Leave campaigner could advise Reform UK going forward.
A friend of Cummings also revealed: “He spends his time mostly helping people outside Westminster and a few inside Westminster he thinks are trying to build interesting things, regardless of their party or whether they’re political or official or in the forces.”
