Badenoch Rules Out Reform UK Deal, Vows Fresh Election Instead

Kemi Badenoch has drawn a firm line in the sand over any potential post-election pact with Reform UK, declaring she would prefer to send voters back to the polls than enter government alongside Nigel Farage's party. The Conservative leader made the remarks during an interview with the BBC as her party's annual conference in Birmingham drew to a close, using the platform to sharpen her attack on the insurgent right-wing rival.

The comments come amid polling that points towards a hung parliament at the next general election, with Labour forecast to emerge as the largest party and Reform and the Conservatives jostling behind. In that scenario, questions about coalitions and confidence-and-supply arrangements have become increasingly charged, particularly on the right of British politics where the two parties compete for overlapping pools of voters.

When presented with a hypothetical outcome in which the Conservatives were the biggest party but Reform held a substantial bloc of seats, Badenoch was unequivocal. She told BBC Political Editor Chris Mason that the route to a Conservative government runs through Conservative votes, and repeated her position that a parliament with no overall majority should trigger another election rather than a deal.

She also reserved some of her sharpest language for Reform itself, describing the party as mired in scandal and warning that any governing arrangement with it would generate a steady stream of difficulties. To illustrate her point, she cited the arrest of Dan Thomas, who stepped down as Reform's Welsh leader last month after being detained on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour. Thomas has said he did nothing wrong.

Badenoch further pointed to the case of Nathan Gill, the former Reform leader in Wales, who was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison after admitting accepting bribes in exchange for pro-Russia interviews and speeches. She also referenced the intense scrutiny Farage has faced over financial support, including a £5m gift from a billionaire Reform donor received before he became an MP. Farage has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The Conservative leader said she wanted disillusioned Reform supporters to return to her party, framing the choice as one between a serious governing force and a movement that would collapse under scrutiny. Her appeal reflects a wider internal Tory calculation: if the party can first draw level with Reform in the polls and then edge ahead, it hopes to convince voters that only the Conservatives can realistically displace Labour.

That strategic thinking has been discussed privately by senior Conservatives, who talk about a potential tipping point in the contest between the two right-of-centre parties. The hope is that a narrow but clear poll lead would allow the Tories to argue they are the sole viable alternative to a Labour government, drawing further support away from Reform as election day approaches.

Badenoch has consistently ruled out any pre-election deal with Reform, characterising it as a party intent on destroying the Conservatives rather than cooperating with them. Her latest intervention extends that logic into the post-election period, effectively closing the door on a formal arrangement even if the arithmetic of a hung parliament appeared to invite one.

The wider political backdrop is uncertain. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month he was not tempted to call an early general election, arguing it would drag the country into a backward-looking process. Under current rules, the next election must be held by August 2029. Farage, meanwhile, has previously claimed that Reform has replaced what he called the old fuddy-duddy Conservative Party.

Away from the coalition question, Badenoch used the interview to announce a significant change to the party's offer for young people. The Conservatives are now proposing to cut the rate of employer National Insurance contributions on earnings for workers aged 21 to 24, halving it from 15% to 7.5%. The shift replaces an earlier policy under which the first £5,000 of NI paid by a young person in their first job would have been redirected into a savings account of their choosing, a measure branded the First Job Bonus and estimated to cost £2.8bn annually.

Explaining the change, Badenoch said youth unemployment had skyrocketed and argued it made little sense to offer a bonus for a first job when people were struggling to secure one at all. She described the new approach as an adaptation designed to address the problems young people face today rather than those the party anticipated when the original policy was drawn up.

The Conservatives said the new measure is targeted at starter jobs, with the standard employer rate applying to earnings above £50,270. They argued it smooths the cliff edge that currently exists when employer NI jumps from 0% to the full rate as a worker turns 21. The government has faced calls to reduce employer NI contributions for younger workers as a way of boosting job opportunities, with roughly one million young people in the UK not in education, employment or training.

Asked why the party was not promising an NI cut for everyone, Badenoch stressed the need to find the money first. She cited what she called a golden economic rule, insisting the Conservatives would remain fiscally credible by identifying savings before committing to spending. She added that she would cut contributions for all workers if the public finances allowed it, but declined to make a promise she said could not yet be afforded.

Badenoch has spent the conference trying to present the Conservatives as a changed party, distinct from the one that suffered a historic defeat at the 2024 general election. She published a 100-page document titled The Right Way, setting out the party's principles, and told the BBC the Tories were returning to the authentic Conservative Party that people knew and loved, while acknowledging that politics is volatile and that the current polling offers no guarantees.

She also sought to talk up her party's chances despite surveys suggesting only about one in five voters would back the Conservatives. Insisting the party can win within a different political landscape, she described the Tories as the only credible alternative to Labour and the only party with a plan, pointing to proposals on economic growth, borders, welfare, defence and bringing energy costs down as the substance of that offer.