Jacob Rees-Mogg has branded the Conservative Party’s removal of Boris Johnson as leader a “catastrophic mistake” and called for a formal political alliance between the Tories and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to “unite the Right” and defeat Labour at the next general election.
In an interview published on Saturday evening by The Sun on Sunday, recorded for the paper’s YouTube series Kate’s Political Lunch Dates, the former cabinet minister argued that ousting Mr Johnson in 2022 alienated millions of voters and triggered a collapse in Conservative support that the party has never recovered from. He said a future electoral pact or merger between the Conservatives and Reform, fronted by Mr Johnson and Mr Farage, could deliver an “enormous majority” under Britain’s first-past-the-post system.
His intervention crystallises a growing and divisive debate on the British right over whether the Conservatives should try to accommodate or absorb Reform, which has surged in the polls since the party’s 2024 general election wipeout. It also puts Jacob Rees-Mogg at odds with both current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Mr Farage, who have repeatedly and publicly ruled out any deal.
Mr Rees-Mogg told the Sun that removing Mr Johnson after the 2019 landslide “treated voters with contempt”, arguing that millions who backed the Conservatives to “get Brexit done” felt their mandate had been disregarded. He claimed that Conservative polling “collapses once Boris goes and never recovers”, and said the party had “thrown away” an historic majority through internal manoeuvring and misjudged policy shifts.
Positioning himself as an advocate of a broader realignment on the right, he described Reform as both “a threat and an opportunity”. The threat, he suggested, was that right-leaning votes split between the two parties would keep Labour in power. The opportunity, he argued, was that if those votes were combined “you could get an enormous majority”.
He floated the idea of a Johnson–Farage “double act”, calling the former prime minister and the Reform leader the two most charismatic politicians in Britain and suggesting that together they could “bash through” Labour in the way Mr Johnson symbolically smashed through a wall with a JCB digger during the 2019 campaign. He lamented that Mr Johnson was being “wasted” outside Parliament.
At present, however, such an alliance appears remote. Ms Badenoch has been explicit that there will be “no pact” with Reform, insisting the Conservatives must rebuild on their own rather than rely on deals. Senior colleagues including former immigration minister Robert Jenrick have echoed that line, saying they want to “send Nigel Farage back to retirement” rather than bring him into the Conservative fold.
For his part, Mr Farage has repeatedly said he aims to replace the Conservatives, not rescue them. Reform’s leadership has ruled out electoral agreements and has been sharply critical of both Mr Johnson and the party he once led. In September, senior Reform policy figure Zia Yusuf described Mr Johnson as “one of the worst prime ministers in British history” and said he would “never” be welcome in Reform, accusing him of presiding over a “Boris wave” of high migration.
Mr Rees-Mogg used the interview to deliver a pointed critique of Rishi Sunak’s record as chancellor and prime minister, blaming decisions taken under Mr Sunak for weakening the Conservatives’ standing with their traditional base. He attacked the rise in corporation tax as “not a Conservative thing to do” and said pandemic-era spending, while necessary in principle, “went too far”. He singled out the Eat Out to Help Out restaurant discount scheme as “crackpot”, linking those choices to today’s high tax burden and sluggish growth.
On immigration, he conceded that numbers had been “far too high” under successive Conservative governments, noting that official figures show net migration in the year to June 2023 reached a record 906,000 before falling back to 728,000 in the year to June 2024. But he resisted efforts to pin the entire surge on Mr Johnson personally, arguing that much of the increase occurred after the former prime minister left Downing Street and that responsibility lay with the wider administration.
He also took aim at Britain’s welfare system and regulatory regime, arguing that the country risked going “broke” without radical reform. The welfare bill, he said, was “outrageous”, and benefits should not become a “lifestyle choice” for those capable of work. He warned that “sucking at the teat of the state cannot continue”, insisting that support must be focused on people who genuinely have no alternative.
On regulation, he complained of “pointless red tape” and recounted being told to factor in “commuting badgers” when seeking permission to build a pond, using the anecdote as shorthand for what he regards as an overbearing planning system. He called for a “modern-day Margaret Thatcher” prepared to slash regulation, shrink the state and restore growth through a more free-market agenda.
Despite his calls for a dramatic change of course, Mr Rees-Mogg denied he was seeking to destabilise Ms Badenoch’s leadership. He said he hoped questions about her position were “over”, and warned that repeated leadership coups had already badly damaged the party’s reputation. His remarks nonetheless add to the pressure on Ms Badenoch from figures on the right who believe the Conservatives must move closer to Reform on issues such as migration and welfare if they are to reconnect with former supporters.
Mr Johnson led the Conservatives to an 80-seat majority in December 2019 on a pledge to complete Brexit and “level up” left-behind parts of the country. His premiership unravelled amid the Partygate scandal and the Chris Pincher affair, culminating in mass ministerial resignations in July 2022, including from Mr Sunak, and his eventual resignation as party leader. Liz Truss’s brief tenure as prime minister later that year was followed by Mr Sunak’s accession to No 10.
At the July 2024 general election, the Conservatives suffered their worst result in modern history, reduced to 121 seats while Labour under Sir Keir Starmer secured 411. Reform UK won only five seats but took 14.3 per cent of the vote nationwide, highlighting the impact of the electoral system on smaller parties.
Mr Rees-Mogg lost his North East Somerset and Hanham seat to Labour’s Dan Norris by 5,319 votes. Reform finished a distant third but secured 7,424 votes locally, more than Labour’s winning margin and a vivid illustration of the vote-splitting argument he now advances. He has said publicly he would like to return to Parliament and has kept a high profile through broadcasting work on GB News and other media.
Since the election, polls have suggested that Reform is consolidating support among disillusioned former Conservative voters. A YouGov/Sky News poll in February put Reform on 25 per cent, ahead of Labour on 24 per cent and the Conservatives on 21 per cent – the first time the right-wing party had topped a UK-wide survey.
Within Conservative ranks, opinion on how to respond to Reform is sharply divided. Some, such as Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, have floated some form of “coming together” before the next election, ranging from local non-aggression pacts to a more formal arrangement. Others, including Sir John Major, have warned that any alliance would be “beyond stupid” and could destroy the Conservative Party by pulling it towards what they regard as nationalist populism.
Mr Rees-Mogg also turned his fire on Labour, arguing that the government’s poll ratings have slipped since the 2024 landslide and suggesting that public confidence is already “sliding”. He speculated that deputy leader Angela Rayner could one day replace Sir Keir if he falters, despite acknowledging that she has faced her own controversies. Labour figures, for their part, have increasingly framed Mr Farage as a long-term threat: cabinet minister Pat McFadden has told MPs that keeping him out of No 10 is a “battle for the country’s future, heart and soul”.
Reform, meanwhile, has set out a series of hardline immigration proposals, including ending indefinite leave to remain and expanding deportations. Supporters say such measures are needed to regain control of the borders, while critics – including legal experts and opposition politicians – have questioned their practicality and compatibility with international obligations.
Mr Rees-Mogg’s call for a Johnson–Farage front to “unite the Right” sits uneasily with that backdrop of mutual hostility between the Conservative and Reform leaderships, and with Reform’s insistence that it wants to supplant rather than save the Tories. There has been no indication from Mr Johnson himself that he is planning an imminent return to frontline politics, and no sign from Ms Badenoch that she is prepared to reverse her stance on pacts.
With the next general election not expected until later in the decade and opinion polls volatile, talk of a formal Conservative–Reform alliance remains speculative. But the scale and tone of Mr Rees-Mogg’s intervention underline the turmoil on the British right and the strategic dilemma facing Ms Badenoch: whether to hold the line against Mr Farage in the hope of rebuilding the Conservative brand, or to heed voices on her party’s flank who believe that, without some kind of accommodation, Labour’s grip on power could endure for years.