Kemi's ratings rise with Reform voters after she attacks party in 'only whites can be English' row

Kemi Badenoch's attacks on Reform MPs saying only white people can be English have been supported by an unexpected group – Reform voters.

The Tory leader's approval leapt from 40 per cent to 57 per cent among Reform UK voters when they were shown video clips of her saying she didn't want to live in a country run by people who 'debate whether my mixed-race children are English'.

It came as Reform leader Nigel Farage warned his colleagues to stop making the Englishness comparison amid fears it was damaging the party in the polls.

Mr Farage has 'exchanged words' with Suella Braverman after she suggested she could not be considered English despite being born and raised in England, because her parents were born abroad. 

The comments were seized on by Mrs Badenoch to launch an excoriating attack on Reform at last week's Conservative Party conference.

Research suggests her response resonated with the public and helped drive a Tory revival in the polls. Surveys suggest the Conservatives have overtaken Reform for the first time in two years.

More in Common found that Mrs Badenoch's approval rating rose sharply among voters who were shown the conference clip. 

Overall, the proportion of voters approving of the Tory leader rose from 37 to 46 per cent. But the effect was particularly marked among Reform voters, with her approval jumping from 40 to 57 per cent.

Tim Montgomerie, a prominent former Reform activist, said there was 'a lot of dismay at the top of the party' about the row.

A party source said Mr Farage had been 'very clear' for years that 'black and Asian people can be English'.

Some Reform figures have followed the lead of Restore Britain in flirting with a form of 'ethno nationalism' which argues that only those who can trace their English roots back for generations can be judged to be fully English.

The idea effectively suggests many second and third-generation migrants are not English, even if they were born here.

Reform donor Arron Banks faced criticism last month after posting on X: 'Going through Heathrow today, there wasn't one white face in security or airport services. 

The Home Office is staffed by the type of people we are trying to keep out!' Mrs Badenoch told the party faithful last week: 'I don't want to explain to my son, when we're watching our brilliant England team play football, that some people don't think our black players are English. I am British. I'm proud of my country, I'm proud of our history.'

Amid widespread praise, Andy Burnham said she was right to draw 'a line between her and Reform for suggesting that her children were not British'.

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