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Tory chief Kemi Badenoch has accused Nigel Farage of “fakery” over claims that Reform UK membership has surpassed that of the Conservatives, making it the second largest political occasion within the UK.
Ms Badenoch mentioned Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up robotically”, however Mr Farage mentioned he would “gladly invite” a agency to “audit our membership numbers” so long as the Conservatives do the identical.
The row comes after a digital counter on the Reform web site confirmed a membership tally earlier than lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking previous the 131,680 determine declared by the Conservative Get together throughout its management election earlier this yr.
Mr Farage mentioned it was a “historic second”, as he posted on X/Twitter: “The youngest political occasion in British politics has simply overtaken the oldest political occasion on this planet.
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“Reform UK are actually the true opposition.”
Nevertheless, in a thread on X afterward Thursday, Ms Badenoch mentioned it was “a faux” and used a clock emoji to say that it was “coded to tick up robotically”.
She added that “we’ve been watching the again finish” of the counter “for days”.
Ms Badenoch mentioned: “Farage doesn’t perceive the digital age. This type of fakery will get came upon fairly shortly, though not earlier than many are fooled.”
There have been 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote through the occasion’s management election to switch Rishi Sunak within the autumn, however Ms Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Get together has gained hundreds of recent members because the management election”.
In response to the thread, Mr Farage mentioned that the “Conservative model is dying” beneath Ms Badenoch’s management, and added: “We are going to gladly invite one of many Large 4 companies in to audit our membership numbers so long as you do the identical.”
The official Reform X account additionally posted a picture that it mentioned included a “screenshot of our inside membership numbers”, which appeared to point out figures at greater than 134,000.
A analysis briefing printed by the Home of Commons Library in 2022 mentioned evaluating occasion membership numbers will be “troublesome”, saying there is no such thing as a uniformly recognised definition of membership, nor a longtime methodology to observe it.
Luke Tryl, director of the Extra in Widespread suppose tank, equally advised the PA information company it’s an “opaque” course of.
Get together chair Zia Yusuf claimed that Mr Farage “would be the subsequent prime minister, and can return Britain to greatness”, including: “Historical past has been made right now, because the centuries-long stranglehold on the centre-right of British politics by the Tories has lastly been damaged.”
Earlier than Mr Farage took over as chief of the occasion in June, Reform UK solely had 40,000 members.
The occasion, which has been on a push to spice up its membership in latest weeks, has seen a variety of important Conservative defections to its ranks, together with former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns and the founding father of the Conservative Residence web site Tim Montgomerie.
There have additionally been rising rumours that tech billionaire Elon Musk is contemplating donating tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to Reform UK after Mr Farage met with him at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion alongside the occasion’s new treasurer, Nick Sweet.
Mr Farage has repeatedly insisted he is aware of nothing a couple of potential contribution to Reform from Mr Musk, however mentioned that the occasion would take the cash if it had been provided.
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Mr Musk is reported to have spent greater than $250m (£197m) in his marketing campaign to re-elect Mr Trump. Mr Farage has been criticised for travelling to the US on a variety of events since his election as the brand new MP for Clacton in July.
Throughout the Tory management race over the summer time, which noticed Kemi Badenoch elected to switch Rishi Sunak, there have been 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote.
The determine, revealed as Ms Badenoch was introduced as the brand new Tory chief on 2 November, was the bottom on file and marked a drop from the 2022 management contest when there have been round 172,000 members.
It comes after the occasion suffered a historic election defeat in July, which noticed its Commons contingent lowered to only 121 MPs – the fewest in its historical past. Labour’s membership stood at round 370,000 in August.
Reform UK returned 5 MPs to the Commons on the basic election after securing 4 million votes.
A Conservative Get together spokesperson mentioned: “Reform has delivered a Labour authorities that has cruelly minimize winter gas funds for 10 million pensioners, put the way forward for household farming and meals safety in danger, and launched a devastating raid on jobs which can go away working individuals paying the worth.
“A vote for Reform this coming Could is a vote for a Labour council – solely the Conservatives can cease this.”
