A top Tory MP has issued a blunt verdict on Kemi Badenoch after the party’s dismal showing at this week’s local elections. Richard Fuller, who is the shadow chief treasury secretary and MP for North Bedfordshire, was grilled on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning after the Tories lost hundreds of councillors this week, with Nigel Farage’s Reform making historic gains countrywide.
As well as winning a tight parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes after a recount, Reform also took two mayoralties, with Andrea Jenkyns winning in Greater Lincolnshire, and former Olympian Luke Campbell emerging victorious in Hull and East Yorkshire.
Nigel Farage’s party also won control of several councils, devastating both the Tories and Labour. This raised questions about Kemi Badenoch and Keir Starmer’s respective leadership. But when asked whether they are expecting Mrs Badenoch to be in the same post this time next year, Mr Fuller simply responded: “Of course we are.”
On whether the Tories may need to look at a pact with Reform UK to get Sir Keir Starmer out at the next general election, he issued an update, saying: “There won’t be pacts. Nigel Farage has been very clear that he wants to destroy the Conservative Party.”
However, Mrs Badenoch confirmed earlier this week that at local council level, the situation is very different, and that Tories and Reform councillors might indeed form agreements in order to ensure the smooth running of local government in some parts of Britain.
It comes as polling expert Sir John Curtice appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning, where he issued a warning to both the Tories and Labour. He said: “I think this probably is an important wake up call to them.
“There’s been a tendency for both Conservative and Labour politicians to presume that politics as has been done in the past – as essentially a battle between the two of them – and that they can largely ignore the various attempts to challenge their joint positions could largely be ignored. This is now a clear warning to them that they can no longer do that.”
Overall, Reform won 677 councillors from a standing start, with the Lib Dems gaining 163 more, taking their total to 370 in the areas where votes went ahead. The Tories lost nearly 700 councillors, while Labour lost 186 representatives at local council level. The Greens also made some small gains.
It comes after the local elections were cancelled by Angela Rayner in nine key areas of the UK, sparking fury from all sides of the political spectrum, with Nigel Farage even going as far as to start a petition in a bit to overturn the decision. The Lib Dems were also left furious by the decision which was made at the start of the year. Votes in the likes of Essex and the Isle of Wight have now been postponed until this time next year.
