A Daily Mail columnist said a formal electoral pact between the Conservative Party and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK could be the only way to prevent Labour from holding power, arguing that a divided right will hand victory to Keir Starmer.
In a Sunday column, Dan Hodges highlighted recent developments including former Conservative MP Nadine Dorries’s defection to Reform and her public call for an electoral agreement between Reform and allies of Boris Johnson. Reform’s leadership has publicly rejected overtures from Johnson’s circle, with Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy, saying in reaction to Dorries’s comments that Reform would “certainly not welcome Boris Johnson.”
Hodges said he attended Reform’s conference in Birmingham and found a professionally run event with energetic and engaged delegates, but warned that the party’s leadership had failed to purge more extreme and controversial voices from its platform. He pointed to two keynote speakers who, he wrote, underlined those concerns.
One speaker, cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, has been associated with anti-vaccine campaigning and was described by Hodges as making an unsubstantiated claim at the conference that Covid-19 vaccines had likely contributed to cancers in members of the royal family. A second speaker, Lucy Connolly, was identified by Hodges as recently released from prison after a conviction for inciting racial hatred and was introduced on stage as “Britain’s favourite political prisoner.” Hodges cited an immediate poll by the group More In Common showing public disquiet over Connolly’s release: 52 percent of respondents said her sentence was correct or too lenient, 35 percent said it was too harsh, and 18 percent thought mainstream politicians should openly associate with her.
Hodges argued that Reform faces a choice between channeling legitimate public concerns on issues such as migration and the cost-of-living crisis, and embracing more toxic elements that could alienate mainstream voters. He said Nigel Farage has shown skill in converting mid-term anger into polling strength — averaging in the low 30s in some surveys — but contrasted that with Boris Johnson’s past ability to secure broad electoral coalitions, noting Johnson at his peak reached 44 percent support and was able to win across traditional Conservative and previously Labour-voting constituencies.
The columnist urged Farage and his allies to consider the electoral benefits of working with figures from the Conservative tradition, and warned Conservatives that continued refusal to explore an alliance could cede power to Labour. Hodges singled out Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for criticism, saying she had failed to assert herself in national debate after the party’s heavy losses in 2024 and suggesting some MPs are already looking for alternatives. He named Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly as potential figures discussed within the party, characterizing their strengths and weaknesses.
Hodges also noted the fragility of Labour’s position despite its parliamentary majority, arguing that a change of Labour leader before the next election could alter the political landscape. He said that a global economic recovery or increased scrutiny of Reform’s policy platform could further complicate forecasts. Quoting an unnamed minister, Hodges wrote: “So long as the Right is split, we still have a chance. But if someone finds a way of bringing them together, we’ll be finished. Possibly for good.”
The column portrayed the prospect of a formal Conservative–Reform pact as hinging largely on the relationship between Farage and Johnson, and on whether both camps can set aside personal and political rivalries. Reform’s public rejection of Johnson was framed in Hodges’s piece as a potential strategic error if the goal is defeating Labour at the ballot box.
Reform’s conference in Birmingham, as described in the column, illustrated both the party’s organisational strengths and the challenges it faces in presenting itself as a mainstream governing alternative. Hodges wrote that while delegates appeared engaged and articulate, the party’s willingness to platform controversial figures risked alienating the wider electorate that a governing coalition would need to win.
The essay comes amid ongoing debate within British politics about realignment on the right of the spectrum and the strategic choices facing both Conservatives and Reform as they consider how to respond to Labour’s hold on power. Hodges’s argument conflates editorial analysis with political forecasting, presenting a scenario in which a formal pact could change the electoral arithmetic — a claim that underscores tensions between strategic calculation and reputational risk for both parties.
Neither Reform UK nor senior Conservative figures immediately responded to the column. The question of whether the two parties can reconcile policy differences and personal animosities remains central to strategists on both sides, with implications for Britain’s political balance should any alliance materialize before the next general election.