Tory shadow minister downplays talk of Reform pact

Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart has said there is "not a conversation to be had" about suggestions of an electoral pact with Reform UK.

Appearing on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Burghart was asked whether he could see a pact happening, given some Conservative figures had proposed one in recent days.

Burghart said the Tories were "not going to do a deal with a party who wants to kill us", but did not definitively rule it out when pressed on the subject by Kuenssberg.

A Reform UK spokesperson said there were no circumstances in which the party would do a pact with the Conservatives.

The rebranded Brexit Party came third in last year's general election, winning 14% of the vote and five MPs, including party leader Nigel Farage.

Last week, Reform UK topped a YouGov opinion poll for the first time, edging in front of Labour on 24% and the Tories on 21%.

An electoral pact is usually a deal between two or more parties to avoid splitting the vote and maximise their candidates' chances.

In 2019, the Brexit Party stood down many candidates ahead of that year's general election, which resulted in a Conservative landslide and Boris Johnson becoming prime minister.

Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said he believed his party could win the next general election under Kemi Badenoch's leadership

He told the BBC: "Reform's stated ambition is to destroy the Conservative Party.

"That's a pretty difficult first date. If somebody says they're out to destroy you, do you start thinking about marriage.

"Whilst reform is talking about completely killing us, I don't think there's a conversation to be had here."

Speaking to the Express, Conservative peer Lord Craig Mackinlay and and former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg supported the idea of an electoral pact with Reform UK.

And Conservative MP and former minister Esther McVey told the TaxPayers' Alliance's podcast this week she could support an electoral pact with Reform UK.

She claimed Labour won the last general election "because basically the two parties on the right didn't come to some sort of agreement".

"So I think electoral pact, maybe," she said.

When asked if he would rule out a Tory-Reform UK electoral pact, Burghart said: "I want the Conservative Party to get a majority at the next election.

"We're not going to do a deal with a party who wants to kill us."

Burghart also rejected the suggestion the Conservatives had been pushed into making a policy announcement on immigration by the party led by Farage, who has said he wanted to see a "freeze" on non-essential immigration.

This week, the Conservatives unveiled plans to bar migrants who claim benefits from settling indefinitely in the UK, and make it more difficult to get British citizenship.

Burghart said the focus was not Reform UK, but trying to insert the policy into Labour's draft immigration law when it returns to Parliament.

"Of course we take the challenge from Reform very seriously," Burghart said.

"But it's very important that we hold this failing government to account on the mistakes it is making."

A Reform UK spokesperson said: "Reform intends to win the next election, repair the damage caused by Johnson, the Tories and Labour.

"We will then return Britain to greatness."