Overview
- Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake deleted a post likening a black-and-gold Reform emblem to the Nazis’ Golden Party Badge, then shared a link to the badge’s Wikipedia page.
- Reform UK and Nigel Farage condemned the move as branding their supporters Nazis, with party strategists vowing to feature the incident in campaign material.
- Kemi Badenoch rejected calls to apologise, describing Hollinrake’s post as a joke and highlighting the jailing of former Reform Wales leader Nathan Gill for pro-Russia bribery.
- Senior Tories split on the tactic, with Suella Braverman calling the comparison wrong and counter-productive and James Cleverly saying it was not how he would have made the point.
- The row unfolded as Reform prepared its first appearance at the CBI’s annual conference, with recent polling from Stack Data Strategy reporting heavy Conservative losses and major gains for Reform.