Robert Jenrick vows to 'unite the fight' with Tory-Reform coalition pact

The shadow justice secretary said that if they two parties do not unite, they would hand a second term to Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party.

He told the UCL Conservative association dinner: "I want the fight to be united. And so, one way or another, I'm determined to do that and to bring this coalition together and make sure we unite as a nation as well."

He added: "[Reform UK] continues to do well in the polls. And my worry is that they become a kind of permanent or semi-permanent fixture on the British political scene.

"And if that is the case, and I say, I am trying to do everything I can to stop that being the case, then life becomes a lot harder for us, because the right is not united."

Mr Jenrick was the runner-up to Kemi Badenoch in the Tory leadership contest held following last summer's general election

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Mr Jenrick continued, in the recording obtained by Sky News: "And then you head towards the general election, where the nightmare scenario is that Keir Starmer sails in through the middle as a result of the two parties being disunited. I don't know about you, but I'm not prepared for that to happen.

He has since denied he was advocating for a pact with Reform UK.

A source close to Mr Jenrick said: "Rob's comments are about voters and not parties.

"He's clear we have to put Reform out of business and make the Conservatives the natural home for all those on the right, rebuilding the coalition of voters we had in 2019 and can have again.

"But he's under no illusions how difficult that is - we have to prove over time we've changed and can be trusted again."

In local elections next week, Reform UK will compete against the Conservatives in Kent and Lincolnshire.

In the last general election, in 170 of the 251 constituencies lost by Conservatives, the Reform vote was larger than the margin of Tory defeat.

YouGov/Sky voting intention figures predict Reform UK on 25%, Conservatives on 20%, Labour on 23%, Lib Dems on 16% and Greens on 10%.

Earlier in April, Nigel Farage rebuffed a suggestion from Ms Badenoch that Conservative councillors could go into coalition with Reform UK.

The Conservative leader has consistently ruled out any national deal with Reform, whose leader Mr Farage has vowed to “destroy” the Tory pary.

Ms Badenoch suggested the picture could be different locally, but Mr Farage said his party had “no intention” of forming coalitions with the Tories “at any level”.

The Tory leader said: “I’ve seen Conservatives go into coalition with Labour, with Liberal Democrats, with Independents.

“You don’t get to have a rerun of an election at local level, so what I’m telling local leaders across the country (is) they have to do what is right for the people in their local area," she told the BBC.

Mrs Badenoch added that local Tories would also need to “stick to Conservative principles” such as “sound money” and “not excessive government intervention”.

But Clacton MP Mr Farage later rejected the idea.

He said: “The Tories broke Britain nationally for 14 years, and their councils continue to break local communities with the highest taxes ever and worst services.

“Reform have no intention in forming coalitions with the Tories at any level.

“We encourage everyone who wants real change to vote Reform on May 1.”