Kemi Badenoch refuses to stand aside for Reform UK in Makerfield by-election: 'I will do NO deals!'

Kemi Badenoch has declared she will do "no deals" with Reform UK ahead of the Makerfield by-election.

Speaking to GB News, the Conservative Party leader has assured she will be standing a candidate, arguing not doing so would be "unfair" to the people in the constituency.

Quizzed by host Charlie Peters on whether her party will "stand aside" for Reform UK in the election, Mrs Badenoch disagreed.

She said: "I have made it very clear, I am not doing any deals with Nigel Farage or Reform. People in that constituency who want to see the welfare bill brought down, who want the two child benefit cap brought back in, who want a cheap power plan, to see stamp duty abolished and business rates for small businesses abolished, they need someone to vote for.

"Nigel Farage is not offering any of those things, and if those people don't have that option, how is that fair?"

Mrs Badenoch argued it is the "democratic way" to ensure voters have a candidate from every party to vote for.

She said: "We will be standing a candidate at this election. Everybody should compete and the people of the constituency should make their choice about who it is they want to represent them.

"That's the democratic way, that is British culture, that's what we've always done. Not this stitch-up nonsense which parties that are too lazy to just get on and select people and win on their own count are pushing forwards, that's not the Conservative way."

Pressed by Charlie on her surging personal popularity, Mrs Badenoch was asked whether the slow increase in her party's popularity will hinder her chances at the by-election.

She responded: "It's just not moving up as quickly, and we know why that is. Less than two years ago, we suffered a historic defeat.

"What's strange is that Labour, who only just got there, have been in freefall. The reason why is because they didn't have a plan, they were not ready for Government. Being ready to fight an election is not the same thing as being ready to run the country."

Taking aim at Reform leader Nigel Farage, Mrs Badenoch told GB News: "That's the same mistake that Nigel Farage is making now. Winning elections is not the same thing as knowing how you are going to fix the problems.

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"That's why this week I was in Parliament setting out an alternative King's Speech about how we would go about the Sovereign Defence Fund, making energy cheaper. Nigel Farage didn't even turn up.

"If he's not turning up to work now when it's easy, why do we think that he's going to be ready to run the country when it gets tough?"

Charlie challenged Mrs Badenoch on whether the struggling popularity of the Conservative Party is due to her frontbench featuring the "same old faces" who led the previous Tory Government to failure.

She hit back: "If you're complaining about the same old faces, then the Home Secretary and the Community Secretary and the Attorney General who were in Boris Johnson's Government, and his Chancellor are now on Nigel Farage's frontbench.

"I think that's where you'll find the same old faces and the same people who failed. The people who are sitting around the table with me are under new leadership, they are people who work hard."

Mrs Badenoch concluded: "We are learning and we've got a new agenda – Reform don't have an agenda. All they want to do is attack us. There's only one party that's holding Labour to account right now, and that's us."

Speaking to GB News on Thursday, Reform MP Andrew Rosindell urged the Tories to "step aside" and "clear a path" for Reform.

The former Tory said: "I would say tonight, the Conservative Party should put the country before party and not field a candidate. Otherwise we risk splitting the vote and potentially letting Labour creep back in, so the Conservative Party really should withdraw from this race and give a clear run to Reform UK."

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