Reform UK and the Conservatives will have to agree some form of pact ahead of the next election if neither can come out on top, Tory peer Lord Frost has said.
It comes after Nigel Farage’s party topped a national opinion poll for the first time, sitting four points ahead of Labour.
A survey conducted by Find Out Now put Reform on 26 per cent, up by one point on the previous week, while the Conservatives placed second on 23 per cent, down by two points. Labour was on third at 22 per cent, also down by two points.
Lord Frost, the former Tory minister who negotiated Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, told Chopper’s Political Podcast on GB News that the two parties must cooperate to prevent Labour from winning.
He said: "I think it’s possible that one or other party could come out on top and get a decisive lead, and then politics has to accommodate that.
“If it doesn’t happen, then there’s got to be some sort of arrangement or whatever because we can’t allow Labour to win again on a third of the vote."
Lord Frost also urged Reform UK and Tory MPs to stop publicly attacking each other.
"I personally don’t think it’s right for Conservatives to rubbish Reform figures, or even more so, people who voted for Reform,” he said.
"And I don’t think it’s particularly wise for Reform to do that either. We need to be building agreement and understanding between each other, not, you know, digging the trench even deeper."
But speaking about Reform’s lead in the most recent polling, the party’s chairman Zia Yusuf told The Telegraph: “No pacts, no deals. Reform is headed for government.”
He added: “The first poll to show Reform with a decisive lead – three points ahead of the Tories, four points ahead of Labour.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also rejected such a suggestion, saying: “Nigel Farage says he wants to destroy the Conservative Party. Why on earth would we merge with that?”
She added: “Nigel Farage has been knocking around for 20-plus years. He’s been leading all sorts of different parties, so he has had a head start.
“I’ve been leading the Conservative Party for 10 weeks. Let’s see where we are in a few months and years.”
The polling will come as a welcome boost to Mr Farage, who has been trying to pitch Reform as the official opposition since before last year’s general election.
