MANCHESTER, England — Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge argued Tuesday that that much of Nigel Farage’s “core support” comes from conspiracy theorists. 

Speaking at the POLITICO Pub at the Conservative Party Conference, Cartlidge said that while the insurgent Reform UK party’s “voters at large” are not conspiracy theorists, a lot of their “really core” backers are. 

“A small number of his supporters, particularly some of the early Reform members, have slightly odd views on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, I would say,” Cartlidge told POLITICO. “In my experience, I have done interviews where I have strongly defended Ukraine and attacked what Putin’s doing, and you get some very extraordinary harassment from certain people.” 

The shadow defense secretary went on: “One of the most extraordinary things I found is the link between people who are anti-vaxxers and pro-Putin for example […] That sort of conspiracy theory — almost no one has that view, but in my experience, in Reform’s really core support, those views are much more common than you would think.”

Pressed on whether he was suggesting Reform supporters are conspiracy theorists, the Conservative defense chief said: “They are. That’s about their core supporters. The voters at large … clearly that is not the case for most of them.”

His remarks come as the Conservatives attempt to paint Reform UK as irresponsible on key issues like the economy and defense, suggesting that they have no solutions to confront the issues Britain faces. It is unclear if the attack will work. The Conservatives are currently hovering below 20 points in the polls, while Reform UK are consistently dominant at around 30 points or higher.

When asked if electing Nigel Farage would represent a national security risk, Cartlidge said: “I think you have to be very cautious in saying that electing someone literally brings a national security risk.” 

But he added that Farage — who has criticized Putin’s invasion of Ukraine but also accused the EU and the NATO defense alliance of provoking it — had “very ambiguous views” on Russia and that it’s “not clear where he stands” on NATO.

Cartlidge later added: “There’s an argument that if he becomes prime minister here, you have [National Rally politician Marine] Le Pen’s success in France et cetera, [there are] really serious questions over Europe’s security. I think that is a very legitimate question.”