Robert Jenrick issues verdict on Tory-Reform pact in next election

Senior Conservative Robert Jenrick has opened a potential rift with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch by refusing to rule out a pact with Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Ms Badenoch has repeatedly rejected calls to "unite the right" by working with Mr Farage to ensure Labour lose the next general election. The Reform leader has also opposed a pact.

But Mr Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary who previously stood for the Tory leadership, appeared to take a different approach when he said a pact was "not a priority". Speaking to Sky News, he initially opposed an agreement with Reform but then appeared less certain as he was questioned.

Mr Jenrick said: "Kemi has been very clear, as in fact has Nigel Farage, that we are not in the business of pacts and deals. I don't think there is going to be a deal and I don't think that's the right approach.

"What we've got to do as a party is change. We've got to learn the lessons of the past. We let people down when we were in office. We've got to learn the lessons, change the party and win those people back.

"I want the Tory Party to be once again the natural home of all the 'small c' Conservatives inn the country."

Sky News journalist Sam Coates asked: "You'd never support a pact?" Mr Jenrick replied: "That is not our priority. That's not a priority.

"What I want to focus on now is just focus on changing the Tory party. Changing so we can win back the support we lost at the general election."

Those calling for an agreement include former Tory cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said cooperation was essential. He said: "On the right, we have a group of people on two different parties who agree on the overwhelming majority of policies."

And he told GB News last month: "I think we need to work together. We need to reverse what Labour is doing and have a restoration of our constitution."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch admitted her party "had a mountain to climb" in a speech at the start of the Conservative conference, taking place in Manchester this week. The latest poll from Opinium found 34% of voters said they would back Reform if an election was held today, with 21% supporting Labour and just 16% saying they would vote Conservative.

Mrs Badenoch hit out at her opponents in Labour and Reform, saying they were "two sides of the same coin" that both practised "identity politics" and "division".

The Conservatives have published a plan that included a series of measures aimed at deporting 750,000 people over five years.

These included the creation of a "Removals Force", inspired by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency, a radical tightening of asylum eligibility and the abolition of courts handling immigration cases.

Speaking on the conference floor, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said he would deport any foreign national expressing "racial hatred, including antisemitism" or supporting "extremism or terrorism".