Inside Tory-Reform combat as Jacob Rees-Mogg reignites requires events to make a deal
Jacob Rees-Mogg has reignited calls for the Tories and Reform UK to make an electoral pact – as some Conservative members said a coalition with Nigel Farage should be considered
Jacob Rees-Mogg has reignited calls for the Tories and Reform UK to make an electoral pact(Image: Getty Images)
Jacob Rees-Mogg has reignited calls for the Tories and Reform UK to make an electoral pact – as some Conservative members said a coalition with Nigel Farage should be considered.
The Tory big beast, who is a former Cabinet minister, said it was normal that Kemi Badenoch and Mr Farage are saying they are against a deal for now but that things could change if it was actually on the table.
On the second day of the Tories’ party conference in Birmingham, Sir Jacob told a panel event: “Think back to Nick Clegg and David Cameron in the garden in Downing Street in 2010, when Nick Clegg was reminded that David Cameron had said he was the biggest joke in political history.
“Parties have to argue their own case until they do some sort of deal, if they do a deal.”
The former Commons leader has long called for the right of politics to unite, despite Ms Badenoch being fiercely against a pact with Reform. He said the Conservatives “couldn’t possibly do a deal with Restore”, saying Rupert Lowe’s party had failed to deal with “unsound” people in its ranks.
But Sir Jacob – who described Mr Farage as a “friend” – said Reform was different though, telling the Daily Telegraph event: “Nigel Farage has always been very careful to avoid this type of approach and these type of people, and therefore I think Reform is in a very different category from Restore.”
Meanwhile, Tory faithful milling around the conference were split on how to fight Reform. Some branded Mr Farage’s party “wannabe Conservatives” and brushed off the party haemorrhaging votes to Reform, while others celebrated Reform having slipped in the polls amid a series of damaging donations scandals.
But some party members admitted the electoral picture was still looking bleak for the Tories and suggested the party may have to unite with Reform.
Jane Emmerson, a Tory member based in London, said a conference event with polling guru John Curtice on Sunday showed the party’s electoral fortunes are not where they want them to be. “I must admit that when I came out, I needed a double gin and tonic, you could say. The figures don’t look good,” she told The Mirror.
She admitted the Tories would have to have a “good hard look” if it came to considering a coalition with Reform.
She said: “I think we need to look at it. I think if that case happened, we’d have to have a good hard look at it, and I think we’d have to say: ‘Well, what is the best for the country.’ I think Kemi would do her best. I’m not saying that won’t happen. You can’t rule anything out.”
Asked if he’d be happy with a Tory-Reform coalition, Toby Watt, a 19-year-old Tory member based in Manchester, said: “I think that’s a difficult question. I think it depends on the type of Tory you are, but I think Reform could be a good bet if they have the upper hand.
“If the Conservatives have the upper hand and can keep Reform sort of in their own box, or even the Lib Dems, like in 2010, but I think that that’s our only choice at the moment.”
Polling firm More in Common last night(MON) warned the battle for the Right is on a “knife edge”. A year ago, Reform held over 60% of the right-bloc vote, whereas today it is level with the Conservatives (44% to 45%), its study said. A two-point swing away from Reform would mean the Conservatives remain the official opposition and a 0.6-point swing to Reform would take the Conservatives to fewer than 100 seats.
It also showed just a third of those who like Ms Badenoch would vote for the Conservatives and that support for the party is concentrated among affluent pensioners and those who do the weekly shop at M&S.
Luke Tryl, More in Common’s executive director, told The Mirror the battle between the Tories and Reform for space on the right of British politics will likely intensify as the country gets closer to a general election.
He said: “I think what will happen is, naturally, as we get to an election, whichever of the Conservatives or Reform looks like the strongest challenger to Labour, that group of voters will move to back them, and I think that explains why you see the Conservatives and Reform going for each other so much because each of them wants to prove they’re the real contender.”
But he admitted some Tory voters – especially moderate Conservatives – are unlikely to switch to Reform, adding: “There’s a big chunk of Conservative voters, about half of Conservative voters, who would be put off by a pact with Reform. Ditto, you’ve got a lot of Reform voters who say: ‘Well, the reason we’ve gone to Reform is because we didn’t like what the Conservatives were doing.’
“And actually, when we dug into tactical voting, we found that Conservative voters were more likely to say they would vote tactically for the Lib Dems than they would for Reform.”
