Conservative party leader says ‘we end up with various coalitions at local level’ as she suggests councillors could do deals with Reform
Good morning. There are three weeks until the local elections in England and, with parliament in recess, the party leaders have time for campaigning out of London. While the main conversation is still dominated by President Trump and his erratic global tariffs policy – Graeme Wearden has the latest developments on his business live blog – there are other things to talk about, and Kemi Badenoch has just given an interview to BBC Breakfast where she condoned Tory councillors doing deals with Reform UK to control local authorities if they do not win a majority.
Asked if she would rule out any deals, at national or local level, between the Conservative party and Reform UK, Badenoch replied:
I have said categorically that I’m not doing deals with Reform. Nigel Farage has said that he wants to destroy the Conservative party. When someone says they want to destroy you, don’t invite them into your house and ask to do a deal.
At local level, we end up with various coalitions. 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.
Reform and the Tories are closer than you think. No plans, no solutions, just more chaos.
Labour is bringing change to Britain. Vote Labour on Thursday 1 May.