Robert Jenrick has told Conservative Party members there will be no deal with Nigel Farage if he is elected party leader to replace Rishi Sunak.
The former home secretary, who resigned because he did not think Mr Sunak was strong enough on Rwanda deportation flights, has emerged as the right’s leading candidate in the party leadership race.
Speaking at an event in Upminster, Essex this week, Mr Jenrick told party members he planned to win back Conservative voters who had defected to Farage’s reform.
But unlike his fellow right-winger Suella Braverman – who leads the party’s membership list but is struggling to get enough MPs to nominate her – Mr Jenrick said there would be no deal with Mr Farage.
In June, Ms Braverman suggested that the Conservatives should welcome Mr Farage into the party because there was little difference between the Conservatives and the Reformers.
Mr Jenrick’s rebuff comes after it emerged the Reform Party fears his nomination more than anything else and hopes his rival Tom Tugendhat, more associated with centrist members of the One Nation party, will win instead.
Several sources claimed that former Conservative MP turned Reform MP in the UK, Lee Anderson, had said Mr Jenrick “would be the biggest problem”.
Mr Anderson denied this and said The Independent“None of them worry us. Just look at their majority.”
But Mr Tugendhat’s allies believe he can follow in David Cameron’s footsteps in the party leadership election, saying he could win the leadership contest by establishing himself as the frontrunner at the party conference.
The former prime minister, now Lord Cameron, was the unexpected winner of the 2005 contest, despite starting behind bookmakers’ favourite David Davis.
But a famous speech, delivered without notes at the party’s grassroots rally that year, transformed his electoral fortunes.
As the standard-bearer for the One Nation Conservative MPs, Mr Tugendhat may still struggle to win over more right-wing Tory members if he manages to reach the final two.
An ally of Mr Tugendhat said: “People don’t always understand how much people in the party want to win power. Yes, they are more right-wing at the moment. But what they are looking for is a candidate who can win and ensure they get back to 10 Downing Street as soon as possible.”
“They also realise they made a mistake with Liz Truss and are determined not to make it again. They will be looking for a winner and one who can establish himself as one, as David Cameron did.”
Ms Truss was prime minister for less than two months before being ousted by her own MPs. She was replaced by Rishi Sunak, but he announced his intention to step down as prime minister following the disastrous general election result earlier this month.
He will remain interim party leader while the party spends the next four months choosing his successor.
Mr Tugendhat and Mr Jenrick both secured the necessary support to move forward, before nominations closed on Monday afternoon. Former Home Secretary James Cleverly also secured the necessary nominations, as did former Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride.
Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch, who has accused her rivals of playing dirty tricks on her, and another former home secretary, Dame Priti Patel, are also expected to appear on the ballot.
MPs will narrow the list of candidates to two finalists, before allowing party members to choose.
But before that stage, there will be a “beauty parade” at the party’s annual conference, in which female candidates will try to establish themselves as favourites for the post.
