This is the moment Douglas Carswell gave his damning verdict on Kemi Badenoch after her party lost two high-profile MPs to Reform UK in just four days.

Mr Carswell, who himself left the Tories to join Ukip in 2014, told Ben Leo it was “difficult to see” how Mrs Badenoch would be able to “compete effectively with Nigel Farage’s Reform party” following the departures of Robert Jenrick and Andrew Rosindell.

Reacting to Andrew Rosindell’s Sunday evening defection, he said it was “pretty grim news” for the Romford MP to give up on the Tories now – having joined the party aged just 14.

“I just don’t see the Conservatives forming a credible opposition right now,” he later added. “They’re very hesitant to do and say the things that need to be done and said to rescue the country.”

“If the Conservatives were going to rise to the occasion, I think it would have been because people like Robert Jenrick were leading it. That’s obviously not going to happen now,” Mr Carswell continued.

“I suspect that actually this idea that somehow Kemi Badenoch has suddenly found a second wind and is improving her performance… is all Westminster bubble talk. It just doesn’t really seem to be reflected in the polls.

“I just don’t really think that after nearly a year in the job, there’s any sign that she’s putting together a credible alternative – whereas I think people like Danny Kruger and James Orr in Reform are.”

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