Badenoch hits out at ‘celebrity’ Farage as she scraps Tory net zero 2050 pledge

Nigel Farage is akin to a reality TV star, Kemi Badenoch suggested as she brushed off calls for the Conservatives and Reform UK to unite into a single political party.

The Conservative leader’s criticism of her political rival came after she said it was time to “get real” about reaching the UK’s net zero target by 2050 during a speech to launch the party’s policy renewal process in London.

Mrs Badenoch drew criticism from influential quarters within her own party, including former prime minister Theresa May, for suggesting the target was “impossible” to meet.

Speaking to The Telegraph newspaper after launching her bid for a Tory revival, Mrs Badenoch was pressed about the possibility of uniting with Mr Farage’s right-wing Reform UK.

The insurgent party is polling better than the Tories across the UK at the moment, and has also overtaken Labour in popularity in some opinion polls.

But Mrs Badenoch was defiant about merging the two parties, telling The Telegraph: “Having appeal doesn’t mean that people want you running their lives. That’s one of the things that we need to make sure that we remind people.

“This isn’t ‘I’m A Celebrity’ or ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. You don’t vote for the person that you’re enjoying watching and then switch off when the show’s over.

“You’ve got to live with that person in your life, in your family’s life, at work and so on. That’s what elections are about. It’s not just about watching a show and switching it off. We’ve got to move away from politics as showbusiness.”

Mr Farage, who appeared on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2023, said on Monday he would use May’s local elections to “prove that the polls aren’t virtual” and that voters will come out for his party at an election.

The Conservative leader also hit out at the infighting within Reform as she spoke to The Telegraph.

Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe has been suspended by the party amid accusations about his conduct, which he has strenuously denied.

“If they can’t unite with five people, how are they going to unite the Right?” Mrs Badenoch told the newspaper.

The Conservative leader had earlier called herself a “net zero sceptic” because of overreliance on China and unreliable targets.

“Net zero by 2050 is impossible,” she said in her speech in central London.

“I don’t say that with pleasure. I want a better future and a better environment for our children, but we have to get real.”

Mrs Badenoch said there would be “more in the weeks ahead” as “the academics, experts, business people, members from all walks of life” will help the party “get to the root cause of our country’s problems”.

She has tasked shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho, with help from shadow Scotland secretary and energy minister Andrew Bowie, to look at solutions for delivering cheap and clean energy.

Former prime minister and Tory party leader Baroness May of Maidenhead said the 2050 net zero target was “challenging but achievable”.

The ex-prime minister set the UK’s legally binding net zero emissions target by 2050 during her time in No 10.

“It is supported by the scientific community and backed by the independent Climate Change Committee as being not just necessary but feasible and cost-effective,” Lady May wrote in a post on X.

She also warned: “With every additional increment of warming the risks of climate change increase significantly, and at an increasing rate. Delaying action will only harm the next generation and increase both the economic and social costs of climate change.”

Mrs Badenoch also came in for criticism from green Tory group the Conservative Environment Network.

Sam Hall, its director, said it was “a mistake to have pre-empted the policy review by deciding that net zero by 2050 isn’t achievable”.

He added: “The target is based not on wishful thinking, but the scientific imperative of stopping the worsening impacts of climate change and preventing unaffordable costs.”