Farage keeps post-election pact door open as Badenoch rejects unity

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 07:24 · Archive

Nigel Farage declined to rule out a post-election pact with the Conservatives, one day after Kemi Badenoch explicitly rejected the idea.

Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader and Clacton MP, told the Press Association that a formal pact with the Conservatives before the next general election remains 'extremely unlikely', but declined to rule out one after voting takes place. His remarks directly contradicted Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch's speech at the Conservative Party conference the previous day, in which she accused Reform of wanting to 'take us backwards' and stated: 'To those who say unite the right, we are not uniting with that.'

Farage's comments came as Reform published a 27-page internal review into its funding practices. The investigation, prompted by a Channel 4 News report, found that two senior figures had 'said things that were wrong, careless and in one instance untrue' during discussions about disguising foreign donations. However, the report concluded that a proposed £500,000 donation from a foreign source 'did not take place' and that Reform had not commissioned polls funded by undercover reporters.

Reform said it believed the production company involved in the Channel 4 investigation, Verbatim Investigations, had 'acted unlawfully'. Farage insisted the internal investigation was as thorough as an external one and stated the party would be launching legal proceedings against Verbatim 'very shortly'.

How it is being reported

• Nigel Farage declines to rule out Reform-Tories post-election pactIt comes just a day after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch rejected the idea, saying: ‘We are not uniting with that.’Evening Standard · 9 Oct, 07:07
• Farage opens door to Reform-Tories post-election pact – one day after Badenoch ruled it outThe Clacton MP said a pact before the next election is ‘extremely unlikely’, but added: ‘After an election, who’s to say?’The Independent · 8 Oct, 17:45

In this story: Nigel Farage · Kemi Badenoch · Reform UK · Conservative Party · Channel 4 News · Clacton · Accrington

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem