“Some Tories have concluded that as the election gets closer, the situation could get worse for them. Better to form an alliance sooner rather than later.”
Despite repeated official denials, the Conservative Party has reportedly held ‘top-secret talks’ on merging with Nigel Farage’s Reform’s UK, with all options on the table, ranging from a complete merger to an agreement over not standing candidates against each other.
While both parties have in the past and after the most recent story broke denied the claims, the Spectator, which has close links to the Tory party and whose editors is former Conservative Party Education Secretary Michael Gove, reports that: “In private, informal discussions have taken place with figures in both parties.”
Katy Balls writes in the Spectator: “Some Tories have concluded that as the election gets closer, the situation could get worse for them. Better to form an alliance sooner rather than later.”
Among the options reportedly being considered as part of a Reform-Tory pact are an unofficial alliance, whereby in seats where neither party has a realistic chance of winning, they field a paper candidate to give the other party a better shot.
Other options include a geographical pact, whereby seats in different areas of the country are divided between Tory and Reform candidates, with a full merger also potentially being mooted.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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