Reform UK leader Nigel Farage demands an apology from Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch over “disgusting” claims

An online feud has erupted in British politics with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage labelling comments made by Kemi Badenoch as “disgusting”.

Britain’s Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has demanded an apology from Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch after he said she levelled false “accusations of fraud and dishonesty” against him over his parties’ membership numbers.

On Friday afternoon Mr Farage published a scathing post on social media platform X and said comments made by Ms Badenoch about Reform “manipulating” membership numbers to inflate them was “disgusting”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has denied fudging his party’s membership figures. Picture: AFP

Mr Farage is weighing up what action to take.

“The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful,” he posted online.

“Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and Financial Times in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct.

“I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises”.

The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful.

Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct.

I am now demanding @KemiBadenoch apologises.

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 27, 2024

On Reform UK’s website on Friday afternoon its live online membership tracker said the party had 142,986 members and had overtaken the Conservative Party which has 131,680 members.

In an interview with British news channel GB News on Friday morning – the station Mr Farage also hosts his own political program on – he said: “I know Kemi Badenoch is well known for her aggression lashing out” and “the truth is there is a very big shift going on in British politics.”

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch is sceptical about the numbers. Picture: Getty Images

“I don’t mind all sorts of comments being made about me but to be accused by her of being a fraudster, I’m sorry, I am not going to let this rest,” he said.

“It’s absolutely disgusting that she should accuse us of defrauding the British public, it is quite wrong in every way”.

Mr Farage has not ruled out taking legal action against Ms Badenoch.

Manipulating your own supporters at Xmas eh, Nigel?
It’s not real. It’s a fake ⏰ coded to tick up automatically. We’ve been watching the back end for days and can also see they’ve just changed the code to link to a different site as people point this out.

Farage doesn’t… https://t.co/2tAsszfHsG

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) December 26, 2024

At July’s general election the Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, won 411 seats, compared to the Conservatives with 121 seats and Reform UK with five seats.

In recent months Reform UK has continued to dominate the headlines as it garners support among the British public and attracts voters who were traditionally Conservative Party supporters. Earlier this month billionaire property mogul Nick Candy, previously a Tory donor, revealed he had defected to Reform UK to become treasurer after citing “too many broken promises”.

Mr Candy is married to former Neighbours star Holly Valance who has previously thrown her support behind the Conservative Party and said former Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg should be British prime minister.

Australian Holly Valance and her husband Nick Candy (left) dined with former US president Donald Trump and conservative former British politician Nigel Farage in 2022. Picture: X.

Mr Candy and Mr Farage also met with American billionaire businessman Elon Musk at US president-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in December after Mr Candy announced he was joining Reform UK.