The battle to become the main party on the Right of British politics is intensifying with Nigel Farage planning a full-on assault on Kemi Badenoch’s home territory in Essex. This English region is where senior Tories including deputy leader Conservative Alex Burghart, Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden and Opposition Chief Whip Rebecca Harris hold seats.
Reform UK and the Conservatives are fighting for the support of voters who want an alternative to Andy Burham’s Labor Government, with Ipsos polling showing 35% of Britons now say the Tories are the main opposition to Labour, compared to 32% who believe Mr Farage’s Reform plays this role.
Pollsters are debating whether the recent donation and racism scandals hitting Reform are, in the words of Keiran Pedley of Ipsos “merely a low ebb for Reform UK that they recover from”, rather than a “decisive shift” in voter tendencies. But Mr Farage is preparing to try and topple Tories through a traditional Conservative heartland.
He told the Express: “Essex is a very key battleground politically. If ever there was a county full of people whose grandparents were born Labour, or parents were born Labour, who’d gone through the 80s and a big change to Thatcherism, the sale of council houses, stuff like that, aspiration, getting up the ladder. If ever there ever a county, Cheshire perhaps, that kind of epitomises aspiration, wanting to do better, believing in working.” hard, patriotic values, then Essex is a key battleground. We obviously swept the board in many parts of the county. It’s important that we can prove that we can manage a big budget, effectively. It’s important that we prove that we honor the promises we made to the electorate.”
The Conservative and Reform UK leaders also face a challenge in persuading the public they are strong contenders to succeed Mr Burnham. Only 33% think it is likely that Mr Farage will be PM, with Mrs Badenoch a point behind on 32%. This contrasts with the polling in May, when half of the respondents thought it likely that Mr. Farage would lead the country.
A Conservative source said: “Kemi Badenoch and her team are putting in the hard work and taking the fight to this Labor Government, unlike Reform who are letting them off the hook. The Conservatives are different from the party that lost the last election, and different from Reform. We are the only party that can unite the country behind a common sense plan to get Britain working again.”