Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has dismissed Reform UK as a "protest party", claiming leader Nigel Farage "likes to talk about himself" and not the intentions of the party.Speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News, Badenoch addressed the challenge posed by Farage's party, suggesting that protest parties naturally "do well this side of the electoral cycle".FULL STORY HERE.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00How's it looking? Because you're in expectation management mode, aren't you? You want to tell me
00:04that you're going to do very, very, very, very, very badly on Thursday in a bid to look better.
00:11No, what I'm telling people is that it's not an opinion poll, that this is about who's going to
00:16run local services. I've been, as you say, everywhere, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire,
00:21Oxfordshire, and I'm listening to what people on the doorsteps are saying. They are still very angry,
00:26but this time they're not angry with Conservatives. They're angry with Labour. Labour has let them
00:31down. They're very angry about the winter fuel payment, every other doorstep. And it's not just
00:36pensioners, it's their children, their grandchildren are angry about it. And I'm telling them that this
00:42is a chance to send Labour a message. If you vote for other parties, Labour slips through the middle.
00:47You look at what's happened in Birmingham, rubbish all over the streets, not being collected, rats
00:51running around. And you have to vote Conservative because we deliver better services for lower tax
00:56businesses across the board.
00:57Although the latest polling puts, this is the Spectator poll of polls, Reform on 25, Labour
01:05on 23, Tory on 22, Lib Dems on 14, Greens on nine. I mean, this whole third place thing,
01:12you are being outgunned by Farage. You have to admit that. And also he is cutting through,
01:16isn't he? Is this big personality on the front pages of the newspapers?
01:20Well, I'm on the front pages of the newspapers too. But the thing is, people are in a protest mood
01:26right now. So protest parties do well, this side of the electoral cycle. Four years ago,
01:31Keir Starmer had a horrific election. That was when we were polling high, middle of the vaccine
01:37bounce. He was completely written off. Today, he is Prime Minister. So the election shouldn't be used
01:42as an opinion poll. People should not vote for them in that way. I need to make sure that I fix my
01:48party. People are very disillusioned. And I'm letting them know that the Conservative Party is under new
01:53leadership. No more of what was happening in the past. No more of the infighting and all of the
01:58rows. It's the other parties who are having all these rows and infighting. But also reminding them
02:02that what we do is for them. It's not for us. We're delivering for the public.
02:05I get that a week is a long time in politics and anything can change. Nigel Farage has put his
02:09chances of being the next Prime Minister at 45%. Where would you put your chances?
02:13I don't speculate. I don't play guess the number. You know, he likes to talk about himself.
02:17I like to talk about what I want to do for the people of this country. Just get Britain
02:21moving again. Let's fix the things that aren't working.