Boris Johnson will “never” be welcomed into Reform UK, Zia Yusuf has said.
The party’s policy chief said that the former Tory prime minister did not share Reform’s values on law and order, border security and sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage said that he did not think it would “really work” to have Mr Johnson join Reform as supporters would “never forgive him” for the levels of immigration he oversaw while in No 10.
It comes after Nadine Dorries, a close Johnson ally, announced that she had joined Reform the day before the party’s annual conference.
The former Tory Cabinet minister, who said that she had left the Conservative Party because it was “dead”, has Mr Farage and Mr Johnson to join forces to bring down Labour.
But Mr Yusuf said that the former prime minister would not be allowed into the Reform fold under any circumstances.
He told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We certainly would not welcome Boris Johnson – that’s never going to happen.”
Zia Yusuf has called Boris Johnson ‘one of the worst prime ministers in British history’ – Heathcliff O’Malley
He added: “We are a group of people who are patriots. We share values. We want secure borders. We want to restore sovereignty. We want mass deportations. We want serious law and order. We need more prisons. We need to send people into prison. If you share those values, then you’re welcome in our party.”
Asked if he felt that Mr Johnson did not share those values, Mr Yusuf replied: “Of course not, he threw open our borders. The Boris-wave, which was millions and millions of non-EU migrants flooding into the country post-Brexit, betraying every single person who voted Brexit, betraying every single person who gave him an 80-seat majority.
“Frankly, he was one of the worst prime ministers in British history.”
The term “Boris-wave” is used by Reform figures to describe the surge in legal immigration following post-Brexit visa policies introduced under Mr Johnson from January 2021.
The remarks represent a tension within Reform’s ranks over how they view Mr Johnson as a politician and the legacy he left Britain.
Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show about whether he could tempt Mr Johnson across to Reform, Mr Farage said: “I don’t think that would really work somehow.”
He added: “I like him personally, always have done, he’s a very entertaining bloke. But I think that the Boris-wave was felt by millions of people.”
The Reform leader said: “Millions of people being allowed into Britain, most of whom by the way don’t even work and are costing us a fortune. That’s something for which this audience would never ever forgive him.”
In the Mail’s Alas Vine and Hitchens podcast, Ms Dorries said: “I think we need all the political talents on the Right of centre, putting their shoulder to what needs to be done for the country.
“How does that work in reality? How does that look? I have no idea. But I think if you start from the point that you need everybody with a passion to make this country a better place at the helm then I think that’s a good place to start.”
Nadine Dorries says she defected to Reform because the Conservative Party is ‘dead’ – Oli Scarff/AFP
She added: “If there’s a will to make the lives of people better, then I think both men could and would find some way to accommodate each other’s egos and to coexist for the sake of the country.”
Ms Dorries was among a significant cohort of former Conservative Party figures at the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, another Johnson ally, now serves as the Reform Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. Sir Jake Berry, the former Tory Party chairman, has also defected to Reform.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Cabinet minister, also attended the event in Birmingham, and said that although he would not join Reform he would offer advice to Mr Farage on governing.
