Nigel Farage has added further fuel to his feud with Kemi Badenoch after putting pressure on the Tories to back a motion pushing for all scheduled Local Election contests to get the go ahead.
Just days after Badenoch swiped at the Reform UK leader over his reality TV experience, Farage claimed that Tories in the House of Lords will vote to block Labour’s attempts to postpone polls if they “really care about democracy”.
Farage said: “It would be disingenuous for the Conservatives to vote for the same motion in the Commons but then vote against this motion in the Lords.
“If the Conservatives really care about democracy, their peers will vote for 5.5 million people to have their voice heard in May.
Nigel Farage
GETTY
“In reality, the Conservatives are running scared of facing the voters after a disastrous 14 years in Government.”
The motion is being tabled by the Liberal Democrats and could succeed with the support of Tory peers.
“Our motion on Monday will succeed if the Conservatives vote for it, it’s as simple as that,” a Liberal Democrat source said.
The Green Party’s Baroness Jones added: “I believe that a majority of peers are against the Government cancelling elections in May.
"The question is whether the Conservative Party really do want the elections to go ahead when they are likely to lose seats to the greens and other parties?”
Kemi Badenoch
GETTY
Despite Farage’s pressure, Reform UK cannot vote in the House of Lords as the populist party does not have any peers in the upper chamber.
However, Conservatives look set to stop short of backing the reinstatement attempt amid concerns it would break constitutional convention.
There have been a total of four so-called “fatal motions” since 1997, including on Tax Credit Regulations in 2015.
Tories will instead likely back a “motion of regret” which is not binding on Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
Despite Badenoch previously voicing her disappointment at Angela Rayner’s decision to axe nine local contests, the Leader of the Opposition is expected to benefit from cut down.
Local Elections in East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey have all been cancelled.
Nigel Farage
PAAnalysis by Electoral Calculus revealed that cancelling polls has all but stopped Reform UK claiming victory on May 1.
Reform UK would have secured six councils outright, emerging as the largest party on an additional six.
However, among the local authorities who had their respective polls delayed, the Tories were predicted to lose control of all seven it currently controls.
During her 2025 Local Elections campaign launch in Buckingham yesterday, Badenoch took a veiled swipe at Farage before admitting that May 1 will be “extremely difficult”.
She 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.”
