'Rishi wanted to do it!' Sunak held 'secret' talks about Farage deal as Brexit beasts feud over plot

Sunak enlisted the help of Dame Andrea Jenkyns to discuss the proposals.

Jenkyns, a loyal ally of Boris Johnson who put in a no confidence letter against Sunak, had a phone call and face-to-face meeting with the now former Prime Minister.

More detailed conversations between then-Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams and so-called “bad boy of Brexit” Andy Wigmore looked to arrange a deal between the two parties.

Jenkyns said: “We discussed the state of the party, my vote of no confidence, disunity in the party, the awful by-election results, how we were haemorrhaging votes.

“I suggested to him Red Wall candidates running on a joint Tory-Reform ticket. He was definitely in listening mode. He said there was a lot to think about.

“I told him that just one part of the party’s constitution would need to be changed for this to happen – he asked me to send it to him afterwards.

“After we spoke on the phone he suggested that we meet in person, and we had a one-on-one meeting the week after.”

Wigmore added: “The idea of a pact in the Red Wall – Nigel was aware of this, Tice was aware of it, a number of others were too.

“We had three good, long discussions about what it would look like. I said, this is Nigel’s number.

“Don’t try and brush him off with a Boris-style deal – he will smell a rat and walk a million miles.”

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Farage’s pal also said: “I think Rishi wanted to do this – I know that the people around him still had that visceral hatred of Farage and over their dead bodies would this happen.

“It was the other people around Rishi who put the kibosh in.”

Reform UK performed particularly well on July 4, receiving more than four million votes and returning five MPs.

Meanwhile, the Tory Party suffered its worst result since 1906 after being reduced to a rump of just 121 MPs.

Farage, who broke his own electoral hoodoo in Clacton, also saw candidates finish runner-up in 98 seats and trailed by less than 10,000 votes in 243 constituencies.

Ex-Tory MP Lee Anderson, who defected to Reform after being reprimanded for controversial comments made about Sadiq Khan, arranged his own local pact with former Conservative colleagues.

Anderson refused to campaign against a number of Tory MPs, including Bassetlaw’s Brendan Clarke-Smith and Don Valley’s Nick Fletcher.

Despite the arrangement, Reform is thought to have cost the Tories as many as 80 extra seats, with Labour’s majority being cut to as low as 48.

A number of Red Wall MPs could still blame Reform UK for missing out on re-election.

Marco Longhi lost Dudley to Labour by just 1,900 votes, with Reform UK picking up support from 9,442 constituents.

However, Anderson returned as the MP for Ashfield and icreased his vote share compared to 2019.

Tory support in the Nottinghamshire coal constituency dropped from 19,231 to just 3,271, with the Conservative Party’s candidate ending up in fourth place.

Despite The Telegraph’s new report about a potential deal being negotiated, Richard Tice categorically rejected signing up to an agreement comparable to the one struck with Boris Johnson.

Farage stood down 317 Brexit Party candidates ahead of the 2019 General Election to ensure Johnson could finally take the UK out of the EU.

Tice said: “We are doing no deals with the Tories.

“They have betrayed Britain, they have betrayed Brexit, they have betrayed their promise to reduce immigration.”

Sunak also appeared to distance himself from publicly extending an olive branch to Reform UK.

“There’s only going to be one of two people who will be Prime Minister: Keir Starmer or me,” the Richmond & Northallerton MP said.

“So the choice is a vote for anyone who isn’t Conservative is a vote for Keir Starmer in No 10.”

Farage was much more mixed on how the Tories and Reform UK could work together.

Speaking to The Sun, Farage said: "Give me something back … We might have a conversation.”

The Reform UK leader later insisted his comment was a “joke” and revealed his ambition is to complete a “reverse takeover” of the centre-right.

Responding to the supposed meetings, Tice described The Telegraph’s report as “fake news”, “misleading garbage” and “claptrap”.

Wigmore, who worked with Tice at Leave.EU, simply replied: “No, it’s not.”

Remaining Tory MPs have already spoken about how to respond to the threat posed by Reform UK going forward.

Leadership hopeful Suella Braverman appears the most receptive to accepting Farage into the Tory fold.

But fellow leadership contender James Cleverly rubbished the proposal, adding: “[Farage] doesn't share my party's interests.”