Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel says the Republicans and Conservatives have been ‘sister parties’ for decades – but Reform UK is just a ‘pop-up act’
Senior Tory Priti Patel has attempted to brand Nigel Farage’s Reform UK a “pop-up act” as both parties fight for Donald Trump’s attention.
Dame Priti, the Shadow the Foreign Secretary, took a swipe at the Conservatives’ rival party ahead of the president-elect’s swearing-in ceremony in the US. Appearing in Washington DC, Dame Priti said the Tories and the Republican Party were “sister parties”.
Asked on Sky News whether she will have to make peace with Mr Farage in order to get a hearing in the White House, the former Cabinet minister argued it was not a relevant point.
She insisted: “We have enduring, long standing ties with the Republican Party. Our two parties in government and out of government have worked closely together over decades.
“In the past, two governments ending the Cold War, bringing economic prosperity around the world, as well as for our two countries.”
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She added: “You know Reform, we’re not a pop-up act in the way in which they are, and their presence is here right now. Our two parties are knitted together in the very principles of conservativism, and our DNA on values and beliefs is incredibly strong.
“So I don’t think that’s particularly relevant. I think importantly, I have worked with the last Trump government when I was Home Secretary.
“I have a track record, certainly in working on national security, homeland security – the real issues that matter to the British people and the American people, and those ties will continue.”
It came after Mr Farage, who is also in the US, described some members of the incoming president’s cabinet as “genuine friends on speed dial”. Last week a poll showed Reform UK leapfrog the Tories – 25% versus 22% – just two months after Kemi Badenoch was elected as Tory leader by the party’s membership.