Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said defections from her party are “probably for the best” because people moving to Reform UK “are not conservatives”.
The Conservative party has been losing ground to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party in both Scotland and England in recent months.
Reform gained its fifth English MP at a by-election last month, as well as taking control of ten local English councils and winning two mayoral races in England.
North of the border, 15 Scottish councillors have defected to Reform UK – 14 of whom were former Tories.
Badenoch’s party also came within inches of losing their deposit at the recent Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election where Reform UK beat their candidate by nearly 5,500 votes.
But despite the perceived threat to the Tories from Reform, Badenoch said she did not have an issue with people leaving for Farage’s party.
“If Reform is taking people who are not Conservatives, people who want nationalisation and more benefits then that’s probably best for us,” Badenoch said.
“We need to make sure everyone who’s in our party believes in authentic conservative values – a hard work ethic, making sure we support those people who are creating jobs, like oil and gas sector, and even businesses on the high street who are struggling from the Labour jobs tax.”
Speaking after the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh on Friday, Badenoch slammed Nigel Farage’s Reform party as “a populist party that’s just telling people what they want to hear”.
She said the Tories are also not resigned to losing their status as Scotland’s opposition party at the Holyrood elections next year.
“We can turn it around, of course we can,” Badenoch said.
“The SNP has failed Scotland and we are the only party committed to removing SNP,” she said.
“This is a party that’s talking about nationalisation. Nigel Farage is talking about nationalising oil and gas companies, and I don’t think politicians messing around with business is what’s going to fix energy in this country,” she told STV News.
“He’s also talking about increasing benefits. This is at a time when we know finances are tight. Reform is not a centre right party, it’s a populist party that’s just telling people what they want to hear. We’re going to tell them the truth.”
Badenoch said she is going to win back voters by reminding them that Reform is not a Conservative party.
Going into the elections, Badenoch said the Tories need to have a “very clear offer”.
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