Kemi Badenoch Launches Blistering Attack On Reform Amid 'Englishness' Row

Kemi Badenoch has launched a blistering attack on Reform UK as she killed off any prospect of doing a pre-election deal with Nigel Farage’s party.

In her keynote speech closing the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, she declared: “We are not uniting with that!”

The Tory leader attacked Reform for its criticism of media and the Zia Yusuf’s decision to call ex-defence secretary and Army veteran Ben Wallace a “traitor”.

Badenoch also condemned Suella Braverman’s suggestion that non-white people cannot be English, saying: “We must not let these people take us backwards.”

To rapturous applause from Tory activists, she said: “To those who say ‘unite the right’... we are not uniting with THAT.

“I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, call veterans traitors and debate whether my mixed-race children are English.

“I don’t want to explain to my son, when we’re watching our brilliant England team play football, that some people don’t think our Black players are English.

“I remember back in the day when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing – nobody was questioning whether they were English. We certainly didn’t have sitting MPs questioning whether they were English.

“We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but I am Black. I am British. I’m proud of my country, I’m proud of our history.”

The MP for North West Essex joked that there had been an “export boom” lately after dozens of former Conservatives flocked to Farage’s party.

She also mocked Braverman and fellow former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick– now senior Reform MPs – by branding them “drama queens”.

She said: “In 2024 voters gave their verdict on the rows, the plots and the in-fighting. Remember all that drama? That’s gone.

“The Conservatives have had an export boom. We have had an export boom of drama queens going to Reform. This party is now the no-drama party, we are the no-nonsense party.”

Badenoch also took aim at the Green, which last week passed a conference motions declaring “Zionism is racism”.

She said: “You know what else is taking us backwards? The disgraceful anti-semitism we saw at the Green Party conference last weekend. They are seeking to erase Jewish identity.

“Shame on the Green Party and shame on [party leader] Zack Polanski.” 

Badenoch also mocked former prime minister Keir Starmer after he was ousted from office in July.

“What’s Labour been up to this last year?” Badenoch said. “Keir Starmer, remember him? Last year he was talking about being in power for a decade.

“Now he’s not even an MP. Life comes at you pretty fast.

“And to think people were writing us off. Let me tell you, I am not someone who gets written off and neither is the Conservative Party.

“Conference, there is a reason our party is still here after 200 years.”

Badenoch also pledged to make changes to inheritance tax so people would be able to pass their family homes onto their relatives without paying the fee.

She announced plans for couples to be able to leave an extra £1 million tax-free, while unveiling the Tory proposals to boost growth and create jobs.

The leader of the opposition promised her party would cut energy costs and cut welfare, pledging spending restrictions for those who do not find work within six months.

Badenoch said her party would also bring down crime and fork out for defence if they returned to power.

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