Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, is preparing to meet with JD Vance following the US vice-president’s recent discussions with Robert Jenrick, a potential Tory leader, during his holiday in Britain.

Farage’s upcoming meeting with the vice-president comes as his party enjoys strong poll numbers in the UK, further strengthening his longstanding ties with US President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Vance held a private meeting with Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary whose notoriety has increased through viral videos since he lost the Tory leadership to Kemi Badenoch last November.

With the Conservative party struggling to regain traction, Jenrick is widely believed to still harbour leadership ambitions.

A spokesperson for the Conservatives mentioned that teams from Badenoch and Vance “tried to coordinate a meeting, but it was not feasible due to [their] schedules.”

Taylor Van Kirk, the press secretary for Vance, informed the FT that the vice-president “made an effort to meet Kemi Badenoch—who is a friend—but their schedules did not align. Any claims to the contrary are inaccurate.”

A US official told the FT that Vance planned to meet Farage on Wednesday.

Currently, the Tory party trails in third place in opinion polls, behind both Reform UK and Labour, raising concerns about Badenoch’s leadership future. Many senior Conservative figures in Westminster privately acknowledge that her leadership time may be dwindling.

Badenoch has faced criticism for shying away from media opportunities, in contrast to her limelight-stealing rival Farage.

Jenrick, like Farage, has also become adept at using short TikTok clips to push his message, including videos that went viral about people evading Tube fares on the London Underground and that criticise high levels of immigration.

He has tacked to the right of Badenoch on some issues, including calling to leave the European Convention of Human Rights, and he shares similar views to Vance — such as a need to crack down aggressively on irregular migration and to uphold free speech.

Over the weekend, Jenrick wrote an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper arguing that asylum seekers arriving in Britain via small boats were making women and girls in Britain less safe. 

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson described the situation as Vance “giving Kemi the cold shoulder”. 

A person close to the Tory leader said they had planned to meet last weekend before Vance had to attend a meeting of European national security advisers on Ukraine.

On Tuesday Badenoch was on the Isle of Wight, where she insisted to GB News that she would “be fighting the next election”.

The meeting between Jenrick and Vance was first reported by the Telegraph.

“The Conservative party has gone through multiple changes in leader, and where it ended up was our worst historic defeat,” Badenoch said. “What I’m doing is making sure that people understand what it means to vote Conservative again.”

Vance is on holiday with his family, staying in a Georgian manor in the Cotswolds, but has held a number of political meetings in the UK. The vice-president is a leading candidate to one day take over from President Trump, who is serving a second and final term.

Vance had a long meeting with David Lammy last week at the foreign secretary’s country residence of Chevening, where they discussed foreign policy issues including the war in Ukraine.

The vice-president and foreign secretary, who have bonded over fishing and difficulties in their upbringing, including a proximity to addiction, have formed an unlikely friendship given their political differences.

Vance’s talks with Lammy were followed by a wider meeting with advisers to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European diplomats, ahead of Trump’s expected meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Friday.