Nigel Farage has dismissed the possibility of an electoral pact between Reform UK and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, despite calls from Conservative defector Nadine Dorries for unity on the right. Speaking on BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Farage said the public would “never, ever forgive” Johnson for the immigration surge that followed Brexit, which he termed the “Boris wave”.
Dorries, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform ahead of the party’s conference on Friday, suggested in a Mail podcast that Johnson and Farage should “accommodate each other’s egos and to coexist for the sake of the country”. However, Farage responded that such a pact “would not really work somehow”, citing the influx of millions of legal migrants under Johnson’s policies.
Reform’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf, was more blunt, calling Johnson “one of the worst prime ministers in British history” and accusing him of betraying Brexit voters. Yusuf told Sky News that Johnson would “never be welcome” in Reform, adding that the former PM “threw open our borders” to non-EU migrants.
Farage welcomed Dorries into Reform despite her support for Johnson, saying the party needed experienced individuals. But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the move, highlighting that Dorries was an architect of the Online Safety Act, which Reform opposes on free speech grounds. Labour chair Anna Turley also weighed in, stating: “Nigel Farage has no plan for Britain. Now he’s admitted he doesn’t have confidence that his team is capable of delivering a plan.”
Separately, Farage faced questions over his tax arrangements, including the revelation that a house he claimed to have bought in Clacton is actually owned by his partner. He said he had “misspoken” and defended his media earnings being channelled through a company, but declined to publish his tax return, calling it “an intrusion too far”.
