Tory snuck into Reform conference after pretending to have a different job

A former Tory MP has admitted she went to Reform UK's conference after getting "hold of a press pass" and apparently entering under the guise of a journalist.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who lost her seat as an MP in July, said she was a "bit of a rebel" and went to the conference last week "just to see what it was like". Speaking at a panel event at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham, the former minister ranted about the "amazing" energy and passion at Reform UK's press conference.

She said she spoke with Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage and Rishi Sunak in the lead up to the election to lobby them to work together, instead of against each other, to "fight the socialists who are going to ruin our country". She said she told Mr Sunak at the time to reshuffle the Cabinet and to replace "the drip" Oliver Dowden with Priti Patel as Deputy PM.

Dame Andrea also said she "personally" spoke to the former PM about allowing MPs to stand as a Conservative and Reform ticket in red wall seats. She said it would be the same as MPs who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party - Labour's sister party. It comes after she sparked anger during the election with her campaign leaflets featuring two pictures of her grinning alongside Mr Farage and zero images of her with Mr Sunak.

Speaking on Sunday afternoon, Dame Andrea, who is a Boris Johnson ally and was one of Mr Sunak's fiercest Tory critics, said where the Tories have gone wrong is "we've gone too far to the centre and there's not much difference where politics is concerned between us and Labour". She said: "I thought I'd be a bit of a rebel last week - surprise, surprise - I got hold of a press pass and I went to the Reform conference just to see what it was like.

"And it was actually like it was here under Boris. You know, the energy, the passion - there's more arrogance and cocksure than we are... but the energy was amazing and I want our party to be like that again. I don't think we can ignore Reform now."

Recalling the lead up to the Tories' historic election defeat, Dame Andrea added: "I spoke to Nigel [Farage], I spoke to Richard Tice, I spoke to Rishi [Sunak] personally about this, I said, why don't we be radical and think outside the box? We are not going to win at the moment. Look at the polling.

"So I suggested in red wall seats, why don't you give the option of MPs standing on a Conservative and Reform ticket? Now I can see people are thinking, oh gosh, what will that bring? But it's only like Labour and the Cooperative. When I stood against Ed Balls he was Labour and the Cooperative. We need to think of a way to bring this the Centre Right and true Conservatives together again."

Dame Andrea urged Tory members to "please choose carefully this next leader". The former MP said she was backing Robert Jenrick because he’s “brave”, adding: “He’s the only minister who I've worked with over the years who actually stands up to the civil service.”

Speaking at a separate event at the Tory conference, Tees Valley mayor Lord Ben Houchen warned that his party has a "huge job to do" to regain the support of its own voter base and to get back the votes that "bled" to Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats during the election. Speaking to journalists at the conference, he said that the party needs to "reconnect" with people they lost.

Labour Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden earlier said the Tories were "terrified" of Reform UK. “It’s shocking that after such a terrible election result there is so little appetite for change in the Tory leadership election," he said. "They seem to think if they shout the same message louder the voters will admit they were wrong. And they are so terrified of Reform that they have abandoned all claim to the centre ground. Labour learned some hard lessons from defeat. It looks like the Tories have learned nothing at all."

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