Badenoch attacks Tory defectors and rules out Reform coalition
Kemi Badenoch hardens the Conservative-Reform divide, rejecting any governing deal with Nigel Farage and saying she would prefer another election after a hung parliament.
🔍 WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
Kemi Badenoch’s refusal to govern with Reform clarifies how Britain’s fragmented party system could operate after a hung parliament, with consequences for government formation and political stability.
KEY TAKEAWAYS...
● Badenoch says there will be “no deals” with Reform before or after an election.
● She says she would prefer another election to a Conservative-Reform coalition.
● She accused some Conservative defectors to Reform of being among “the most dishonest people” she has met.
● Her position deepens the separation between the Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s party.
K emi Badenoch has ruled out forming a government with Reform UK even if Britain’s next general election produces a hung parliament, saying she would prefer another election to a coalition with Nigel Farage’s party.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Saturday, the Conservative leader also launched a sustained attack on Tory figures who have defected to Reform.
“Reform has people who left the Conservative party, some of the most dishonest people I have ever met in my entire life,” Badenoch said.
She accused defectors of abandoning the Conservatives when the party was struggling.
“These are people who left us when we were at our lowest, many of them the people who caused the problems in the first place and then ran away and pretended they had nothing to do with it,” she said. “Why should we have them back?”
Badenoch said she did not want “drama queens” returning to the Conservatives and dismissed the prospect of accommodating former members seeking a route back.
Among those who have moved from the Conservatives to Reform are former home secretary Suella Braverman and former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick. Jenrick joined Reform after being sacked by Badenoch and subsequently described his former party as “rotten” and “failed”.
Badenoch also attacked Reform’s political operation, saying the party “is all over the place” and accusing it of announcing policies before quickly moving on from them.
Her strongest comments concerned what she would do if no party secured a Commons majority at the next election.
Badenoch said Britain would be in a “pretty bad place” if the Conservatives failed to form the next government, but insisted she would rather face another election than enter what she called a “monstrous Reform-Conservative hybrid” administration.
“How do I work with people like that when I am making carefully curated plans and taking a systems-based approach?” she said.
Turning directly to Farage, Badenoch added: “How do you work with a man who has fallen out with every single person he has ever had to work with in every single party that he has started?”
She said her objective was to “win on my own terms”.
Asked what should happen if a hung parliament left parties unable to form a government, Badenoch was explicit.
“If we get a hung parliament and people see that the parties can’t form a government, you have another election,” she said, adding that there would be “no deals” before or after the vote.
“I want us to unite the country,” Badenoch said. “It is not about uniting the right, it is about uniting our country.”
🔮 WHAT MATTERS NEXT...
🎯 WHAT TO WATCH NEXT:
● Whether Kemi Badenoch maintains the same position if future polling or election results leave the Conservatives unable to govern alone.
● Whether further Conservative figures defect to Reform despite Badenoch’s criticism.
● Whether Farage continues to reject cooperation with the Conservatives or changes his position closer to a general election.
● Whether continued electoral fragmentation makes the possibility of a hung parliament more politically relevant.
🎯 MOST LIKELY OUTCOME:
● Badenoch is likely to continue presenting the Conservatives as a distinct alternative to Reform rather than preparing publicly for an alliance.
🎯 WHAT COULD CHANGE THE PICTURE:
● A future election result in which neither party can govern alone could put both leaders’ rejection of cooperation under much greater pressure.
🎯 WHY THIS MATTERS:
● The choices made by Conservatives and Reform could become central to how a future British government is formed.
GOING FURTHER
Badenoch says Reform defectors ‘some of the most dishonest people I have met’ | THE GUARDIAN
Feuding Reform fuels Tory party's faith in a comeback | FINANCIAL TIMES
Are Reform a bigger threat to Labour or the Conservatives? Here's what local election results tell us | SKY NEWS
Badenoch attacks Farage over £5m gift and rules out Tory-Reform pact | THE GUARDIAN
Robert Jenrick defects to Reform after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sacks him | SKY NEWS
Tories criticised over claim Braverman defected to Reform after ‘mental health’ issues | THE GUARDIAN
Sources:
▪ This piece was first published in Europeans TODAY on 26 August 2026.
▪ Cover: Dreamstime/KORWEN.
