A senior figure in Reform UK has opened the door to forming a future election pact with the Tories if it would keep a Left-wing coalition out of power.
Zia Yusuf on Sunday admitted his party would do the ‘patriotic thing’ if faced with the prospect of a government comprising Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.
As head of policy for Nigel Farage’s party, he repeatedly refused to rule out a deal with the Conservatives – even though he continued to attack their record in office.
But his comments will raise hopes that the two Right-wing parties, currently bitter rivals, will find a way to work together if the next general election looks likely to end in a hung parliament led by Left-wingers.
The Daily Mail’s demand that ‘The Right must unite’ calls on the main Right-wing parties to concentrate on saving Britain from another Left-wing government rather than fighting among themselves.
Mr Yusuf’s comments come after The Mail on Sunday predicted Energy Secretary Ed Miliband could run again for Labour leader if Sir Keir Starmer is forced out, and that he would be more able to do deals with the Greens and Lib Dems than other candidates.
One Labour MP told the paper that Mr Miliband and the other parties would agree to stand down candidates in constituencies where a split in the Left-wing vote would let in the Tories or Reform.
Latest polling suggests that Labour, the Greens and the Lib Dems together command 45 per cent of the vote – the same as the Tories and Reform.
Reform’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf, repeatedly refused to rule out a deal with the Tories
The Daily Mail’s ‘The Right must unite’ campaign calls on the main Right-wing parties to concentrate on saving Britain from another Left-wing government
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Should Reform and the Tories set aside their differences to stop a Left-wing alliance running the country?
Told on GB News on Sunday that the combined Left-wing vote would mean Reform would have to do a deal with the Tories, Mr Yusuf replied: ‘Well, that’s a big if, right? And in that hypothetical scenario, you’d have to do the patriotic thing.’
Asked if he meant the Right would have to unite to see off a ‘progressive alliance’, he said: ‘I think as soon as you’re in the territory of that conversation, I’d be extremely concerned about the way the country is going to end up, because there’s nothing, frankly, right about the Tory Party in terms of how they’ve governed.’
He added that the ‘wets’ now dominate the Conservative Party in the wake of several high-profile former ministers defecting to Reform, including Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman and Nadhim Zahawi.
This week the former Tory Cabinet ministers’ roles in their new party will be revealed for the first time.
Mr Yusuf has been tipped to cover the Home Office while Mr Jenrick is expected to be given the highly sought-after role of Shadow Chancellor, with Mr Zahawi as Shadow Foreign Secretary.
