Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has warned against his party becoming Reform UK, as he made his pitch to party members.
Speaking from the main stage at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Tugendhat said the Tories needed to “rebuild trust” with the public, after the party’s historic election defeat in July.
Rival leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch said she was prepared to work with Nigel Farage’s party in Parliament but ruled out an electoral pact.
Tugendhat and Badenoch were the first contenders to speak in the main hall, with Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly getting their chance on Tuesday.
Both candidates were interviewed by GB News political editor Christopher Hope, before taking questions from party members.
In July the Tories suffered their worst general election defeat in the party’s parliamentary history, losing votes to both the Liberal Democrats on the left and Reform UK on the right.
Asked whether the Lib Dems or Reform were the biggest enemy, Tugendhat, who is from the centrist One Nation wing of the party, said: “The enemy is trust. We have eroded trust in ourselves and we need to rebuild trust in the Conservative Party.”
He argued people did not vote for Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey or Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to become prime minister.
“They voted against us. People woke up in the morning and they wanted to get us out,” he added.
Asked whether he would do a deal with Mr Farage, he said: “My job is to reform the Conservative Party not to become Reform.”
When the same questions were put to Badenoch, she said “anyone who’s not a Conservative has got to be defeated”.
She argued Reform politicians were not “real Conservatives” and “not serious people” but that Reform voters “are our people”.
Pressed over whether she would do a deal with Farage’s party, she said: “I am always prepared to work with any other party that wants to help us deliver our agenda. I think that’s fine in Parliament, but in an election, no.”
She added: “At the next election we have to be the centre-right option. If we split that vote, we are going to be out of power for another five years and Labour will destroy this country.”
This article was originally published at www.bbc.com
