Badenoch says she would choose another election over Reform UK deal

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she would prefer another general election to a deal with Reform UK to secure power if the next vote produces no overall majority. Asked by the BBC whether she would work with Reform in government if the Conservatives were the largest party in a hung parliament, she said she had called for another election in that situation. [1]

Badenoch predicted a further election immediately after a hung result. She said she thought the Conservatives could win the next election, but stopped short of saying they would. She has previously ruled out a deal with Reform before an election; the interview addressed the separate question of cooperation afterwards. [1]

Badenoch said she wanted Reform voters to return to the Conservatives and described people in Nigel Farage’s party as “neck deep in scandal”. She cited the arrest of former Reform Wales leader Dan Thomas, who said he had done nothing wrong, and the case of another former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, who was sentenced to prison after admitting he took bribes. Farage has faced scrutiny over financial support he received and has insisted he did nothing wrong. [1]