Backing Reform risks wiping out 100s of Tory MP for a generation, warns Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch warns wavering voters that backing Nigel Farage risks wiping out hundreds of Tory MPs for just "a few inexperienced Reform candidates" in return.

In a direct appeal to Express readers, the Business Secretary said she understands the frustration and anger many feel over rising immigration.

But with just days to go before polls open, she warns that change for the sake of it will leave the country worse off.

Writing in the Express, Ms Badenoch urges voters to back the Tories, insisting “all our lives depend on it”.

She says: “Now is a time for serious politics. If people don’t vote Conservative, we will swap large numbers of experienced Conservative MPs for lots of Labour MPs and a few inexperienced Reform candidates.

“Farage and a handful of Reform MPs will not do the hard work in select committees and debates that limit the damage Labour can do. Worst of all, we could lose our ability to hold the Labour party to account.

“This is why I am writing to urge people to back local Conservative candidates and our shared values by voting Conservative this Thursday. All our lives depend on it.”

An average of all polls over the last week puts Labour on 40%, the Conservatives on 20%, followed by Reform on 16%, the Liberal Democrats on 12% and the Greens on 6%.

But the quirks of the voting system mean the number of seats Mr Farage’s party is likely to win will be in single figures while Sir Ed Davey’s Lib Dems could win dozens.

A variety of polls have put the Tories on as low as 50 seats or over 150.

Ms Badenoch stresses her fear that voting Reform will put everything conservatives value at risk for a generation.

She writes: “While most Conservative voters I am speaking to are sticking with our party, many up and down the country are considering voting Reform this Thursday.

“Sadly, they will split the vote and let Labour win in places Labour has never won before, creating a Labour supermajority.

“The way the voting system works, enough votes for Reform risks us losing hundreds of Tory MPs and just getting one or two Reform MPs in exchange while Labour takes the rest.

“This isn’t about jobs for Conservative MPs, it’s about what you will lose if we surrender to Labour for a generation.”

Ms Badenoch says both Labour and Reform say ‘it's time for a change’ but the "only change they offer is change for the worse”.

Mr Farage revealed Reform will spend £1 million on election advertising blitz in the final days of the campaign.

The party has been “flooded” with £400,000 in new donations in the wake of its weekend rally in Birmingham.

“Reform UK is already the leading voice of opposition across the country and by Friday morning we can be the real opposition in Parliament, too,” Mr Farage said.

He said he would bring the party “under much, much stricter control” after criticisms that he had failed to tackle allegations of racism within its ranks.

“This is a start-up party. I took it over a month ago. There were some people there that should never, ever have been there and I’m sorry for that,” Mr Farage said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer stepped up campaigning in the final hours before polling day.

Mr Sunak insisted he has “absolutely not” given up hope of winning but admitted to voters’ “frustration” with his record in No 10.

The Prime Minister warned that a vote for Labour would strengthen Vladimir Putin and see the UK becoming the “soft touch of Europe” for migrants.

Mr Sunak told workers at a healthcare supply facility in Staffordshire: “I know many of you who supported us in the past have some hesitations about doing that again.

“I know you’re frustrated with me, frustrated with our party, it hasn’t been an easy few years for anybody, I get all of that, we haven’t got everything right, we’ve made mistakes. I appreciate and hear your frustration.”

Asked if he had given up trying to win, Mr Sunak said: “No, absolutely not.

“I’m fighting hard for every vote. I don’t take a single place or person for granted, but I don’t want Britain to sleepwalk into the danger of what an unchecked Labour government with a supermajority would mean.

Sir Keir, meanwhile, said he would be forced to make tough choices to deal with the “very difficult inheritance” he would receive if he is in power after Thursday’s vote.

“If we do get over the line and come in to serve as a Labour government, it’s going to be really difficult because there’s going to be a very difficult inheritance after 14 years of failure under this Government, and we’re going to have to do really tough things in order to move the country forward,” he said.

After a stump speech at Hitchin Town Football Club, the Labour leader was asked whether he was concerned he could be the least popular opposition leader ever to enter No 10.

He said: “In five years’ time, we will be able to look back and say: ‘You are truly better off, your public services are working properly and the economy is working for everyone.’

“I’ll be very, very happy to be judged on that record.”