Priti Patel supporters urge Tory merger with Reform Party: 'Let them have a clear run in the Red Wall seats'

The messages, seen by GB News, featured various supportive comments towards Reform, including: “I would support a merger with Reform”.

Another activist wrote: “My take on Reform - let them have a clear run in the Red Wall seats.

“We won those seats for the first time in many cases because we promised to deliver Brexit.

“Our biggest mistake was trying to reshape our electoral coalition off of that one election result.

They continued: “We didn't win there before and we won't win again, unless we make decisions that will rob us of overall victory.

“We need to take out the Lib Dems/Greens who have infiltrated our backyard, Reform giving us a clear run at them is their end of the bargain.”

Connor Tomlinson, a political commentator from the Lotus Eaters website, told GB News: “Given Patel's long-standing friendship with Nigel Farage, and her supporters - like Dame Andrea Jenkyns - urging a merger before the election, this news should surprise nobody.

“But how would it benefit Reform to merge with the Conservative party which has shown contempt for Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, and all their former voters who defected at the general election?”

He continued: “Patel isn't engendering goodwill by gaslighting the population over blatant two-tier policing, which the likes of Richard Tice have been courageous to call out.

“Nor can Reform run credibly on reversing decades of mass immigration if they take their lead from the Home Secretary who was the architect of the record influx of third-world migrants.

“Well-meaning though Patel's camp may be, it would be a mistake for Reform to hitch themselves to the Tory wagon when the wheels have fallen off.”

Other Priti Patel supporters heaped praise on Reform, with one saying “Let's not forget, Reform issued a proper Tory manifesto” and another writing: “I am a paid up member of Reform as well as the Conservatives at the moment - it remains to be seen which one gets booted."

However, other Tory activists were more cautious towards Nigel Farage’s Party.

One wrote: “Reform and the Conservative Party were not competitors. Mr Sunak gave voters absolutely no reason to vote Conservative.”

“They were free votes available to anyone interested. Farage only woke up when he realised how badly Sunak would fail and votes were there for the taking.”

Another Tory campaigner warned: “Trying to out Reform Reform is a mistake”.

Robert Bates, a commentator and journalist, said: “The trick to Reform’s election success is that the party has identified the middle ground of British politics.

“The overwhelming majority of British voters want proper border controls. This is what Nigel Farage alone was promising at the last election.

“These leaked messages show the existential problem the Tory party currently faces, with some members arguing it needs to tack further to the Left in a mad pursuit of Lib Dem and Green votes. This is a strategy of failure.

“Patel’s recent attempts to defend her record on immigration were misguided and were reminiscent of the condescension shown to voters on this issue by successive Conservative governments.

“This schizophrenic approach, pursued under the mantra of 'uniting the party', simply accommodates an outmoded open border zealotry with no clear electoral cleavage in the country.

“Unless the next Tory leader emphatically embraces border restrictionism the Party will be stuck languishing in the no-man’s land of British politics, unable to speak to the millions of disgruntled voters who have simply had enough of mass migration and the devastation it causes their communities.”

A campaign spokesman for Dame Priti Patel said: “These are not ‘leaked messages’. They are from a non-affiliated WhatsApp group that to our knowledge was open to anyone to join whether they support the campaign or not.

“The campaign has as much control over these groups as it does the output of GB News and the views reflect those only of the individuals making the comments.

“The campaign would encourage those interested to learn more about how Priti will unite the Conservative Party and take the fight to Labour to win the next general election, to join the official WhatsApp group.”