Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has ruled out an electoral pact with Reform UK, citing the controversies over donations and the “character” of Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick.

Asked about a possible pact, she told GB News: “What I have said is that it’s about uniting the country, not just uniting the right. Uniting the country behind common sense is what Conservatives want to do.

“There was actually another poll about two weeks ago that showed that if you have a coalition, some of the people who are supporting you will go elsewhere. So you can’t just add those two groups together and assume that you’re getting a block vote on the centre right.

“And also, what are we uniting about? It’s not just policy; it’s also character. And when I look at the things that Reform are doing, you know, we saw that exposé. Of course, they deny it. But Nigel Farage is under investigation. That £5 million, the money. Robert Jenrick has donations being investigated.

“We just don’t want this anymore. People saw the Conservative Party doing all sorts of things that they didn’t like, and I said, I’m coming in to clean this up. Many of the problematic people have gone to Reform. How can we then join with them?

“I want people to see that the Conservative Party is getting its act together. We know we got a lot of things wrong. I wasn’t there for the whole 14 years. I was there for half of it. I did what I could, but I’m in charge now. And the people who were very frustrated by the direction of the party are now running the party. And I want your viewers to see that.”

Badenoch also said that potential Conservative candidates at the next election will have to pass a selection test: “we are not rebranding. But people are understandably disappointed by the record. We did do some good things, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been winning for those 14 years. We were the best option.

“I think now people are seeing what Labour have done. We’ve already lost the Labour Prime Minister after just two years. They can see actually that there were reasons why things went so wrong. But there were many things that we were supposed to do that we didn’t deliver. And so I am showing people that we are going to do those things now.

“So, for instance, I’m saying that if you will not leave the Convention on Human Rights, if you’re not willing to scrap the net zero plans that are bankrupting our country, then you can’t be a candidate.

“We lost 250 of our MPs in 2024, 25% of the party is brand new. You know, we have people like Katie Lam, Harriet Cross, Rebecca Paul, Nick Timothy. These are new people already, and if we win an election, it’s going to be a whole bunch of new people.

“So I want them to know that if they are worried, they can look at me, at my record, what I said, what I had the power to do, what I did, and look at the new people coming in and the plans. We are making sure that people can see your workings as well.”

She was asked if she would revive the Rwanda deportation plan for illegal migrants: “Yes, if Rwanda was still willing, I would do. Unfortunately, Labour has annoyed the Rwandan government. They’ve ruined the plans.

“In fact, the US has been using the stuff that we paid for, if you can believe it. Labour don’t know how to negotiate anything. They don’t really want to stop the boats.

“Andy Burnham talked about dispersing people all around the country. That’s why Piddington has this problem. And you know, when I was there on Monday, you look at these women. They are crying out for help from the whole country.”