Kemi Badenoch has insisted she is “not worried” that a former Conservative Party donor’s decision to give £1 million to Reform UK could mark the beginning of a trend, amid growing concerns about party funding ahead of critical local elections.
It was revealed that Bassim Haidar, who reportedly donated £700,000 to the Conservative Party during Rishi Sunak’s leadership, has now pledged £1 million to Reform UK.
Asked on Sky News Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips whether she was concerned Mr Haidar’s defection might inspire others to follow suit, the Conservative leader remained defiant.
“No, I’m not worried, we are raising money as well in the Conservative Party,” Mrs Badenoch said.
“The last release showed that we raised more than the Lib Dems, Reform, and Labour combined.
“So we’re doing fine on donations.”
She acknowledged that losing donors was not ideal but emphasised that the Conservative Party’s primary focus must remain on public service rather than electoral success alone.
“Obviously we don’t want to lose our donors, but we need to make sure that what we are doing is about the public, it’s not just about winning elections.
“What are we winning for? What is the agenda?” she added.
Mrs Badenoch also made clear that she would not entertain any notion of a coalition with Nigel Farage or Reform UK at national level.
Pressed on whether she would prohibit Conservative councillors from forming coalitions with Reform at local government level following the May elections, she clarified:
“I want to be extremely clear, because people have often been confused by this.
“I’m not going into any coalition whatsoever with Nigel Farage or Reform at national level.”
However, she drew a distinction between national and local politics, indicating that coalition arrangements at council level would be judged on a case-by-case basis.
“At local level, it’s different,” she said.
“In the national election, you can rerun the election, at local level you can’t.
“So there might be no overall control.”
She continued: “And what I’ve said to our councillors — I trust these people, they’re very smart, they’ve been doing this for decades — is that you have to do what is right for your local area.
“At the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with Independents, we’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.
“They have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and see how they can deliver for local people.”
Mrs Badenoch cautioned against any premature discussions about coalition deals, warning:
“What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch ups or people planning things before the result is out.
“They have to do what’s right for their community.”
Voters across 23 local authorities in England will head to the polls on 1 May to elect new councillors, with mayoral contests taking place across six regions.
It represents the first major electoral test for political parties since last summer’s general election, with more than half of the council seats up for grabs currently held by the Conservatives.
Reform UK is standing more candidates than either the Conservatives or Labour in next week’s elections, contesting 99.4% of the available seats.
The party has consistently polled ahead of the Tories in recent months, further intensifying pressure on the government.
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Meanwhile, senior Labour figures have acknowledged that some of their decisions in government have proved unpopular.
Pat McFadden, a senior Cabinet Office minister, admitted on Sky News that Labour had faced difficult choices.
“Look, we had some tough stuff to sort out after the election last year and I accept that some of those decisions have not been the most popular,” he said.
“But we are starting to see things turn around now.”
Mr McFadden highlighted a fall in NHS waiting lists for six consecutive months as evidence of progress, adding:
“So, we’re starting to turn things around, but it will take some time to feel the benefit of these things.”
Taking aim at both the Tories and Reform, he said:
“We will do that and it’s a big contrast to what we inherited with the NHS, or, indeed, another force on the right that doesn’t believe in the NHS at all.”
