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Reform could be main competitor to Labour at next General Election, senior Cabinet minister tells LBC
27 April 2025, 13:16 | Updated: 27 April 2025, 13:19
Reform UK may be the main competitor to Labour the next time the whole country goes to the polls, a senior Cabinet minister has said.
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Pat McFadden, who helped coordinate Labour's last General Election campaign, told LBC's Lewis Goodall that the apparent turmoil in the Conservative party meant it would be possible for Nigel Farage to overtake them on the right of British politics.
It comes as Kemi Badenoch said she would not rule out local pacts with Reform in Thursday's local elections, although the Tory leader said she did not envision such an agreement being rolled out nationwide.
Mr McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said Reform surpassing the Tories was "possible", adding: "I don't know what's going to happen on the right of British politics."
He told Lewis: "I think about politics on the right, the thing that strikes me most is the crisis of confidence in the Tories.
"Where you've got one of the most successful electoral forces in any Western democracy over the last hundred years or more now having a negotiation with itself about whether it can win on its own."
Ms Badenoch's comments came on the same morning as a member of her Shadow Cabinet told Lewis that he would warn local leaders not to do deals with Mr Farage's party.
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative's shadow communities minister, said: "I think it would be a mistake for a Conservative local leader to enter into a formal coalition with Reform."
He added that he understood that some local leaders may "decide to enter into agreements with other parties... a confidence and supply agreement where you work on a vote by vote basis".
Mr Hollinrake said that although his party may find success hard to come by on Thursday, winning voters back over "isn't flicking a switch or finding a silver bullet."
Watch Again: Lewis Goodall is joined by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester | 27/04/25
He added: "Success takes time. It's hard yards. We're starting from a very low base. It is tough."
It comes as one of the Conservatives' biggest donors announced on Sunday he had defected to Reform UK
Bassim Haidar, 54, resigned his membership from the Conservatives earlier this year, claiming they had "lost their way".
He told the Telegraph on Sunday that he thought Mr Farage could be the UK's next Prime Minister.
