Kemi Badenoch has issued a warning to Reform UK, suggesting Nigel Farage's party of "counting their chickens" ahead of next year's Holyrood elections.
Speaking on her first visit to Scotland since becoming Conservative leader, she said she had to "start rebuilding trust" with voters by setting out a new direction while "acknowledging mistakes that we made."
Badenoch also issued a warning to Unionist voters that backing Reform UK would only help the SNP cling onto power.
It comes after Reform deputy chair Richard Tice told The Telegraph last week that it was a "given" and "done" that they would beat the Tories at the Scottish elections next year.
Responding to this, Badenoch told reporters: "We live in very turbulent and unpredictable political times. Anything can happen. We’ve seen parties lose 20-point majorities, as we did in 2017 so I tend to look at what actually happens when the time comes.
"So I think they are counting their chickens...voting Reform just helps the SNP, so anyone who is a Unionist, anyone who’s certainly on the Right voting Reform, is just going to get more Left-wing government, and that’s what we saw at the last [general] election."
"The idea that we’re suddenly going to disappear just because there’s competition on the Right, for me, is just not serious."
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We are not counting our chickens or being in any way complacent, quite the opposite: we are out every day working hard and not taking voters for granted like the Tories did for years.
"The Scottish Conservatives like to pretend only they can beat the SNP, but in reality they’ve been part of the bubble that has failed Scotland."
Labour has confirmed that teacher and councillor Karen Shore will be their candidate to stand in the upcoming Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
It comes after Mike Amesbury announced he would stand down at the earliest opportunity following his conviction for assault.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Karen Shore will be a champion for the people of Runcorn and Helsby.
"She’s local and her experience as a teacher and serving the community as a councillor will give people a strong voice in the House of Commons. That’s what people in Runcorn and Helsby deserve in their Member of Parliament."
"I look forward to her working hard with ministers if she is elected to deliver the local change that the area and our country deserve."
Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls has slammed plans for cuts to disability benefits, saying that it was "not going to work."
Balls told his Political Currency podcast that reforms would be hard for the party to stomach in the context of other cuts.
He said: "It’s one thing to say the economy is not doing well and we’ve got a fiscal challenge, but the context we’re now in is that we are having to increase defence spending and, two weeks ago, it was announced we’re going to cut international aid."
"But cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work, to pay for that, is not going to work. And it’s not a Labour thing to do … It’s not what they’re for."
The Tories branded Labour a "growth killer" after latest figures showed the economy had contracted by 0.1 per cent in January.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: "It is no surprise that growth is down again, following near no growth in the last three months of 2024. After consistently talking Britain down, raising taxes to record highs and crushing business with their extreme employment legislation, this Government is a growth killer.
"Labour inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 but since they arrived business confidence has collapsed and jobs are being lost.
"The Chancellor has 12 days until her emergency budget – she must think again or hard-working people will continue to pay the price of a Labour Government without any business experience."
Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe is too right wing to join the Conservative party, ex-Cabinet minister Sir David Davis has said, who said the rise of Reform UK was a symptom of his party's failure over the past years.
Party grandee Davis told GB News that Reform had grown in popularity because "we were not proper Tories for too long", and added that new Labour MPs were telling him they feared only being in office for a single Parliamentary term.
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Speaking on her first visit to Scotland since becoming Conservative leader, she said she had to "start rebuilding trust" with voters by setting out a new direction while "acknowledging mistakes that we made."
Badenoch also issued a warning to Unionist voters that backing Reform UK would only help the SNP cling onto power.
It comes after Reform deputy chair Richard Tice told The Telegraph last week that it was a "given" and "done" that they would beat the Tories at the Scottish elections next year.
Responding to this, Badenoch told reporters: "We live in very turbulent and unpredictable political times. Anything can happen. We’ve seen parties lose 20-point majorities, as we did in 2017 so I tend to look at what actually happens when the time comes.
"So I think they are counting their chickens...voting Reform just helps the SNP, so anyone who is a Unionist, anyone who’s certainly on the Right voting Reform, is just going to get more Left-wing government, and that’s what we saw at the last [general] election."
"The idea that we’re suddenly going to disappear just because there’s competition on the Right, for me, is just not serious."
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We are not counting our chickens or being in any way complacent, quite the opposite: we are out every day working hard and not taking voters for granted like the Tories did for years.
"The Scottish Conservatives like to pretend only they can beat the SNP, but in reality they’ve been part of the bubble that has failed Scotland."
Labour candidate for Runcorn and Helsby by-election confirmed
Labour has confirmed that teacher and councillor Karen Shore will be their candidate to stand in the upcoming Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
It comes after Mike Amesbury announced he would stand down at the earliest opportunity following his conviction for assault.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Karen Shore will be a champion for the people of Runcorn and Helsby.
"She’s local and her experience as a teacher and serving the community as a councillor will give people a strong voice in the House of Commons. That’s what people in Runcorn and Helsby deserve in their Member of Parliament."
"I look forward to her working hard with ministers if she is elected to deliver the local change that the area and our country deserve."
Ed Balls comes out against cuts to disability benefits - 'It's not a Labour thing to do'
Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls has slammed plans for cuts to disability benefits, saying that it was "not going to work."
Balls told his Political Currency podcast that reforms would be hard for the party to stomach in the context of other cuts.
He said: "It’s one thing to say the economy is not doing well and we’ve got a fiscal challenge, but the context we’re now in is that we are having to increase defence spending and, two weeks ago, it was announced we’re going to cut international aid."
"But cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work, to pay for that, is not going to work. And it’s not a Labour thing to do … It’s not what they’re for."
Labour branded as 'growth killer' by Mel Stride
The Tories branded Labour a "growth killer" after latest figures showed the economy had contracted by 0.1 per cent in January.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: "It is no surprise that growth is down again, following near no growth in the last three months of 2024. After consistently talking Britain down, raising taxes to record highs and crushing business with their extreme employment legislation, this Government is a growth killer.
"Labour inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 but since they arrived business confidence has collapsed and jobs are being lost.
"The Chancellor has 12 days until her emergency budget – she must think again or hard-working people will continue to pay the price of a Labour Government without any business experience."
Rupert Lowe is 'too right wing' to join Tories says ex-Brexit chief Sir David Davis
Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe is too right wing to join the Conservative party, ex-Cabinet minister Sir David Davis has said, who said the rise of Reform UK was a symptom of his party's failure over the past years.
Party grandee Davis told GB News that Reform had grown in popularity because "we were not proper Tories for too long", and added that new Labour MPs were telling him they feared only being in office for a single Parliamentary term.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Find Out More...