Lord Frost has reflected on the prospect of a Conservative pact with Reform UK as the two right-wing parties continue to fight it out in the polls.
The former cabinet minister told attendees of the annual Margaret Thatcher conference over the weekend that “pacts or arrangements will have to be on the agenda” if the right remains divided within a year of a general election.
According to reporting by the Spectator magazine, the Conservative peer and ex-Brexit negotiator insisted Reform and the Tories are “going to have to work together at some point.”
The comments came after Greg Smith, a serving Conservative frontbencher, said last week that his party will ultimately have to negotiate some sort of pact with Reform UK — a statement that appeared to step beyond the Tory line.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has repeatedly ruled out the prospect of an electoral pact or merger with Nigel Farage’s Reform.
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In an interview with Talk TV, Smith was asked if he would be happy for the Conservatives to agree some form of deal with Reform UK.
He replied: “Look, I think if we want to get rid of socialism from this country, there may well be a point where the right-of-centre parties have to play nicely.
“I don’t think we’re at the point of having to negotiate a deal like that. At the moment, I very much hope we can have a Conservative victory.”
The shadow minister was pressed on what “playing nicely” might look like — an informal non-aggression pact, or a more formal electoral alliance.
Smith said: “I think there is going to come a point where the parties on the right-of-centre look at where things stand ahead of the 2029 general election, and if there is a risk of a continued Labour government — or, possibly the worst case scenario, a Labour-Lib Dem-SNP coalition that would almost certainly bring in proportional representation… then I think there has to be some sort of deal negotiated out.
“Exactly what that looks like, [it’s] far too early to say.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper challenged Badenoch to sack Smith for his comments.
Cooper said: “On the very day that Kemi Badenoch launched her campaign in Buckinghamshire, the local Conservative MP for Mid Buckinghamshire has suggested a Conservative pact with Reform.
“The wheels are already coming off this shambolic Tory local election campaign.
“Kemi Badenoch should sack Greg Smith from her frontbench. Anything less would be an admission that the Conservative Party now wants a deal with Farage and Reform.”
Lord Frost, who served in Boris Johnson’s cabinet from March 2021 to December 2021, has now echoed Smith’s comments.
Fielding questions at the annual Margaret Thatcher conference, including on the topic of a Reform-Tory pact, he said: “We need, I suspect, to let this competition play out. If we get to within 12 months of another general election and we’re still divided 50/50 or thereabouts, then obviously pacts, arrangements will have to be on the agenda because we can’t go into an election divided again and losing, but we’re not at that point at the moment.
In comments first reported by the Spectator, he added: “We do need competition. We do need to show who is the most fitted to hold out on the right… We are going to have to work together at some point, whether it’s in two parties, whether it’s in one party, that’s still to be decided.
“But the people — us — all of us as people on the right are going to have to work together, and we need to act in ways that makes that possible.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
Source: Politics
