'They prey on fear': Tories lash out at 'unserious' Reform during Badenoch’s local elections visit to Gosport
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The Conservative leader took aim at Nigel Farage, who was campaigning with Reform supports in Waterlooville
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed Reform as an “unserious” party during a visit to Gosport - as a war of words was exchanged in the run up to local elections.
The leader of the opposition addressed the challenge during a visit to the UK Docks Marine Services site in Victoria Quay. At the same time, Nigel Farage and Tory defector Suella Braverman were on the campaign trail in Waterlooville.
Mrs Badenoch said her party focuses on on lowering immigration, lowering taxes, abolishing stamp duty, solving government waste, and bringing the welfare bill down - policies which resonate with voters. She also cited Mr Farage being a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne before he stood in the general election as a reason for him not to be trusted. The electoral commission is investigating the matter.
Speaking to media, she said: “Nigel Farage is too busy having to explain why someone gave him £5m which he trousered without making a report of it. We’re talking about serious things. About defence, how we defend our country, how we get people working again and off welfare. That’s the message we’re taking up and down Hampshire, and I think the people here will like what they have to say.
“The conservatives are the party that wants to bring this fragmented country together. I want to show people that the party removed from office in 2024 is changing under my leadership. It’s a new party, with a new leader. We acknowledged that mistakes were made in the past. I’m changing our policy to fix those mistakes.”
Mrs Badenoch joined fellow Conservative politicians - including shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge - one a whistle-stop tour of Portsmouth harbour. The politician drove a PAC 24 sea boat past HMS Queen Elizabeth and other Royal Navy warships.
In an interview with The News, Mrs Badenoch said the era of two-party politics is dead and the idea of political heartlands aren’t a thing anymore. “We’ve got to fight for every single vote. I’m so happy Conservative councillors are out there showing how well they run public services while keeping council tax low.
“They’re doing everything they can to help people with the cost of living. We know how expensive things are with energy bills going up. We want to see oil and gas being drilled in the North Sea, which has an impact on the defence industry and Portsmouth. All our policies are linked together. We want to keep bills low however we can, and we’re taking that message around the country. We’ve got a plan to boost job creation by abolishing business rates on the high street. We want to get Britain working and develop a stronger economy.”
In the wake of local government reorganisation resetting geographical boundaries for public services, political candidates are out in force across the Portsmouth area ahead of the May 7. Reform are targeting local regions, with former Tory councillors Sarah Milne, Gwen Robinson and Caren Diamond among a group of political figures to jump ship.
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative, said her party has a very clear plan and thought out plan for how her constituency should be. “All they are telling us is what’s wrong,” she added. “People want to hear a positive vision for the future, and not just how rubbish everything is. Whenever there’s what you would call a far right candidate in this part of the world, you will get people voting for them. What you’ve got to remember is they’re a populist party.
“There are a lot of people who are disillusioned with mainstream politics, partly because they haven’t quite forgiven us for our time in government, but equally because the Labour government has been so unbelievably disappointing. Keir Starmer came in promising integrity and transparency, an adult in the room he said, but he’s let people down more than anybody.
“That very quick disillusionment with the Labour party is pushing people into the arms of minority parties like the Greens and Reform, but they don’t offer anything. They’re about telling you what’s wrong, but not what they would do better. They’re preying on people’s fear and selling them a world which is undeliverable. People want honesty, telling them what actually needs to be done, how we’re going to get there, and how we’re going to do it.”
In response to the Conservatives, Mr Farage said: “The Conservatives have been the dominant party in British politics on and off for 200 years and i think you’re witnessing the end of it - something very big and very historic is going on. The two party system that we’ve known for a century is melting before our eyes.”
Mrs Braverman said Reform is “very attractive to people who were fed up with the betrayal of the last Conservative government”. She added: “I fought against very energetically and i was sacked. I stand by my record of trying to cut migration but being blocked by a conservative prime minister.
“In the end, on two-tier policing, i raised my head above the parapet, I blew the whistle on the failure by the police and instead of backing me a Conservative prime minster sacked me. I tried to give it time to see if it could redeem itself, it didn’t, and that’s why I lost all hope in the Conservative party."