Rule out election deal with Nigel Farage, Labour tells Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak has been urged by Labour to publicly rule out a deal with Nigel Farage amid Conservative calls to secure an agreement that he will not stand for Reform UK at the election.

On Thursday i reported that Tory MPs were urging the Prime Minister to make Mr Farage the UK’s ambassador to the US or hand him a peerage in return for him not standing for Parliament amid Reform UK’s rising threat to the Mr Sunak’s election hopes.

Reform UK had instantly rejected the proposal, bandying it the latest attempt by “terrified Tories to save their rotten hides”.

But Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden repeatedly refused to rule out an attempt to cut a deal with Mr Farage when questioned about it on Sky News by Sophy Ridge.

Labour has urged Sunak to make clear he would not try and strike an agreement with Mr Farage, arguing it could undermine unity against Russian aggression because Reform’s honorary president previously suggested the West should “open negotiations” with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

Jonathon Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Paymaster General, said: “Rishi Sunak must put national interest before the Conservative Party. No secret negotiations to keep the Farage wolf from the Tory door. Rishi Sunak must rule out this dangerous and desperate deal.

“If the Prime Minister refuses to publicly rule out such a desperate deal, it will be clearer than ever that Rishi Sunak is too weak to act in the national interest.

“Tory MPs pushing Rishi Sunak into a dangerous and desperate deal with Nigel Farage reveals how chaotic the Tory Party has become. After 14 years of decline, it’s time for change.”

Any suggestion of a pact was given short shrift by Mr Farage, who said the Tories had blown any chance of bringing him onside.

“I am not for sale,” he said. “If the Conservative Party were sincere they would have sent me to the USA in 2017.”

According to some Conservatives, the opportunity to extend an olive branch to Mr Farage was lost when Boris Johnson came to power in 2019.

The rise of Reform UK has seriously spooked Tory MPs, particularly those representing “Red Wall” seats, and has prompted some to call on Sunak to strike an unlikely deal with Farage to ensure he does not stand in the forthcoming election, which would give a major boost to Reform’s prospects if the party’s President did stand.

Reform’s poll rating rose to 16 per cent in a YouGov poll on Thursday, the highest it has polled to date and just five points behind the Tories.

A Tory ex-Cabinet minister suggested there was now no chance of doing a deal due to a grudge that developed after Mr Johnson failed to phone Mr Farage to thank him for standing the Brexit Party aside in the 2019 general election.

A Red Wall Tory told i: “Rishi should do a deal with him to make him ambassador to the US in return for him agreeing not to stand for Reform.

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“He already has a great relationship with Donald Trump, he would make an excellent interlocutor between the two countries. Bung him a peerage and make him ambassador is what I would do.”

Another Conservative frontbencher suggested Farage should be handed a seat in the House of Lords in return for Reform standing down all candidates at the election, just as the Brexit Party did in 2019.

“I think it would be easier to do a deal saying we will make you a Conservative Peer,” the MP said.

The idea of making Farage the UK’s ambassador to the US was warmly welcomed by Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, although he cast doubts on the viability of such a plan.

“Nigel would be an excellent ambassador in the event of Trump being re-elected in November,”Rees-Mogg said, before adding: “I think it requires both Trump and the Tories to win and our elections may well coincide so I don’t think it would arise.”

Downing Street has been approached for comment.