Nigel Farage has rebuffed a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch that Conservative and Reform UK councillors could form coalitions in town halls after the local elections.
Badenoch had opened the door to Tory and Reform councillors entering formal agreements to administer local authorities if it was “right for the people in their local area”.
But the Reform leader hit back by saying his party had “no intention” of forming coalitions with the Tories at any level after 1 May.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday, the Conservative leader said that while she categorically ruled out any national deal with Farage, Tory councillors routinely “end up with various coalitions” with all parties, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
“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,” Badenoch said.
In response, Farage said “Reform have no intention in forming coalitions with the Tories at any level” because “the Tories broke Britain nationally for 14 years, and their councils continue to break local communities with the highest taxes ever and worst services”.
Elections are due to be held in more than 20 councils in England in three weeks’ time, and Reform is hoping to make significant gains.
The Conservatives are expected to take heavy losses because the seats were last contested in 2021, when the party enjoyed a high level of support after the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Polling suggests several councils are likely to end up in no overall control on 1 May.
The Conservatives and Reform have ruled out making a pact at national level, despite pressure from some MPs to unite the right.
But Badenoch said it was up to local councils to “make the choice about what is right for their councils” as long as they “stick to Conservative principles”.
In response, the Labour party chair, Ellie Reeves, said: “Now it’s crystal clear: if you vote Reform or Conservative, you’re opening the door to more of the Tory chaos that held our country back over the past 14 years.”
Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said “you couldn’t put a cigarette paper between Badenoch and Farage when it comes to their policies” and that “the Conservatives and Reform have merged in all but name under her leadership”.
Badenoch admitted on Thursday that the elections would be “challenging” after the party’s “historic defeat” nationally last summer.
“We can’t win everything all the time, but I want people to know that those local Conservatives are working hard for every vote,” she said.
More than 60 of Reform’s council candidates standing in this year’s elections are defectors from the Conservative party, research by Labour has found.
Reform has selected an ex-Conservative as its candidate in the Runcorn and Helsby byelection, which is also taking place on 1 May, while the party’s mayoral candidate for Greater Lincolnshire is the former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns.
Badenoch also faced questions on Thursday about why she was not campaigning in Runcorn and Helsby, after reports that Esther McVey, a former Tory cabinet minister, said her party should “let Reform win” the seat.
The Tory leader said her party was “fighting for every seat” but she could not be everywhere at once. “I’m here in Lancashire, and I’m supporting county council candidates all across the country, as well as our mayoral candidates as well,” she said. “We need to make sure that people always have the option to vote Conservative.”
The byelection in Runcorn was triggered by the resignation of the previous MP Mike Amesbury after he was given a suspended prison sentence for punching a man in a street in October.
