Badenoch rules out Reform coalition and defends Tory conference mood

Mixed · 2Kemi Badenoch said she would rather fight two general elections in quick succession than form a coalition with Nigel Farage's Reform UK in a hung parliament. 1 2 Left · 1Asked on Sky News, she said that if there were a hung parliament "we can have another election", pointing to 1974, when there were two elections, and said the public would see "who is serious and who is not". 2 Centre · 1The Evening Standard said she "appeared to rule out" a coalition, quoting her telling the BBC: "I have said that we would have another election if there was no overall majority." 1

Mixed · 2Former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg had earlier told a fringe event that anyone not backing a post-election Tory-Reform coalition to stop a left-wing government was "bonkers"; the Mirror said some Tory members also thought the parties should consider uniting. 1 2 Centre · 1Badenoch said the party was "not out of the woods yet" after its 2024 election defeat, but that members were "happy because we know who we are" and "chipper because we are going back to first principles", after publishing a treatise called The Right Way. 1 Centre · 1She argued that politics is "volatile", said she was not predicting a win, and said current polling points to a hung parliament. 1

Centre · 1Separately, she told Channel 5 News the conference was "buzzing" with "many more people than last year", after jokes about empty seats in the main hall from commentators including Jeremy Clarkson, who said "a lot of people have come dressed as seats". 3 Centre · 1Labour shared a screenshot of a sparsely filled hall at the start of shadow education secretary Laura Trott's speech, captioned "People disguised as chairs latest." 3 Centre · 1She said she was "working on fixing the brand" by going back to core principles, adding that the country is in an era of multi-party politics. 3

Left · 1A YouGov poll published on Tuesday, cited by the Mirror, put Labour on 27%, Reform UK on 22% and the Conservatives third on 20%, with the Lib Dems and Greens on 11% each. 2 Left · 1Labour MP Mike Tapp said Reform were "too nasty for the nasty party", and TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said Tories or Reform would mean "a reckless right-wing government". 2 Left · 1Conservative chair Kevin Hollinrake admitted the party was "not where we need to be right now", and the Mirror reported Tory members whispering about whether Andy Burnham could call an early election. 2

Left · 1On Tuesday the Conservatives also pledged to halve employers' national insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, from 15% to 7.5%, at an estimated cost of £2.3bn; Badenoch said she would explain the funding on Wednesday, and a Labour spokesperson called it "fantasy economics". 2 Left · 1She is due to give her main conference speech on Wednesday, where she is widely tipped to announce an inheritance tax cut, which she declined to confirm. 2