Nigel Farage is "living rent-free" in the heads of the Conservatives and the Reform UK leader "will be the next Prime Minister", it has been claimed by the party's chairman.
During Thursday night's GB News Tory leadership special Decision Time: The Race to Lead, Badenoch delivered her verdict on Farage amid the growing support for the party.
She told host Christopher Hope that although she has "a lot of respect" for the Reform UK leader, she is "definitely not going to let him into the Conservative Party".
Badenoch added: "Nigel Farage has said he wants to destroy the Conservative Party. We are a broad church, but if somebody says that they want to burn your church down, don't let them in."
Zia Yusuf claimed Nigel Farage will be the 'next Prime Minister' following the GB News Conservative leadership special
GB News / PA
Jenrick has also publicly aired his stance on Farage, claiming that he wants to "retire" the Reform premier out of politics and "take oxygen away" from his campaign.
Discussing the threat of Reform UK on GB News, Chairman Zia Yusuf claimed that Farage "lives rent free" in the Tory members's heads, and is "often the subject of debate" for the party.
When asked by host Patrick Christys who out of the remaining leadership candidates he would prefer to work with Reform UK, Yusuf said: "Neither, because Nigel clearly is living rent-free in their heads, and is the subject of debate here.
"In reality, people in this country who are patriotic, who want secure borders, want net migration to be frozen, want to see our public services fixed, know that Nigel Farage is the man who's going to be able to do that."
Both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick delivered their verdict on Nigel Farage's influence on politics with Reform UK
GB News
In a bold claim, Yusuf added that Farage "will be our next Prime Minister".
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Offering his analysis of Badenoch and Jenrick's performances in the leadership event on GB News, Yusuf claimed that they are "unable to accept" that they had "14 years to implement all of the things they said just now".
He explained: "Both of these candidates who put themselves forward don't seem to appreciate that the Tories are unable to accept that they had 14 years to implement everything that you just heard.
"And not only did they fail to implement a single one of those things, they did the complete opposite."
Discussing July's General Election and Reform's impact on former Conservative voters, Yusuf told GB News that those who chose Reform UK this summer are "never going back" to supporting the Tories.
Yusuf claimed that Farage is 'living rent free' in the heads of Badenoch and Jenrick
GB News
He added: "All of the polling that we've done internally and all the public polling shows Reform voters who left the Conservatives are never going back.
"And the opposite is now happening.
"Half of the Conservative voters want a merger with Reform, because they can see Reform are going to be the party that delivers for the British people."