The Conservatives intensified their attack on alleged racism within Reform UK on Saturday after Raheem Kassam, a close ally of Nigel Farage, described Tory leader Kemi Badenoch as a “Nigerian scammer”.
Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Mr Kassam, a long-standing adviser to the Reform leader, of “launching racist slurs” at Mrs Badenoch.
In one post on X, Mr Kassam wrote: “How are people still falling for this Nigerian scammer? Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details!”
In other posts, he wrote: “So Kemi, tell us the truth. Are you a walking gaffe or an illegal immigrant?” He also made a pointed reference to her full name, Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch.
The Conservatives have called on Mr Farage to “come clean” about Mr Kassam’s exact position within Reform UK. Mr Kassam has been close to the Reform leader for more than a decade and previously served as his chief of staff during his time as Ukip leader.
Although Mr Kassam was at Reform’s London headquarters as recently as last week, the party insists he does not hold any formal role.
The comments by Mr Kassam — who once described himself as a “one-man human shield” for Mr Farage and said he would take him to steam rooms to prevent him sweating in public — come as Reform faces allegations that it is pursuing an “ethno-nationalist” strategy. MPs have claimed that only white people can be genuinely English.
Mrs Badenoch has enjoyed a rise in support since using her speech at the Conservative Party conference this month to condemn Reform MPs who have repeated that argument.
Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Raheem Kassam (pictured right), a long-standing adviser to Mr Farage, of “launching racist slurs” against the Tory leader
The Conservatives called on Mr Farage to “come clean” about Mr Kassam’s precise role in Reform UK after the posts appeared
The row follows a week in which Reform has faced mounting questions over its candidate-vetting procedures. An undercover ITV investigation found several councillors and candidates expressing racist views and using offensive language. A Reform spokesman said: “There is no room for racism in Reform UK.”
Mr Hollinrake told The Mail on Sunday: “It’s time for Mr Farage to come clean about precisely what role Raheem Kassam has within Reform. Does he have a paid position?
“Is he acting as an informal adviser? What influence does he have over Reform’s communications and wider political strategy?
“Reform says there is no room for racism within the party. How does that square with the fact that Mr Kassam still appears to maintain close ties to Mr Farage while simultaneously launching racist slurs against the Leader of the Opposition?”
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Mr Kassam denied any wrongdoing and accused Mr Hollinrake of “hurling woke, Leftist terms”. He said: “I’m Indian, but I don’t think it is racist to call me Indian. Kemi is a compulsive liar. She is, without doubt, a scammer.”
Meanwhile, a friend of Mr Kassam claimed that a group of Conservative MPs had recently visited the Washington DC restaurant he runs and asked him to work with them.
The friend said: “He has only been over from Washington for a few weeks and the Tories are already panicking, which is sort of flattering. But he has no intention of staying in London long term.”
A Reform insider said: “Raheem’s worked with people on the political Right on and off for over a decade, including the Conservative Party.
The Conservatives intensified their attack on “racism” within Reform UK after a close ally of Nigel Farage described Kemi Badenoch (pictured) as a “Nigerian scammer”
“Tory MPs dined at his restaurant in Washington last year and asked him to return and work with them. They’re obviously attacking him now because he refused.”
A Tory source strenuously denied the claim.
Mr Kassam has sent a flurry of messages in recent weeks on X, including one containing footage of Mrs Badenoch speaking at her father’s memorial in 2022.
He wrote: ‘When Kemi Badenoch speaks to other Nigerians, she turns off her fake English accent.
‘She also tells them that she loves Nigeria just as much as England. And what’s all this about saying Islamic prayers in Nigeria? She is running to be PM while stating equal allegiance to another country??? How are people still falling for this Nigerian scammer? Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details!’
Earlier this month, he criticised the version of the Bayeux Tapestry the Tories mocked up for their party conference, spoofing Labour figures such as Andy Burnham, John Healey and Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Kassam complained that their version of the embroidery, originally depicting events from 1064 onwards, ‘includes their Nigerian leader, Olukemi Badenoch. This is Netflix-tier bad’.
Mrs Badenoch’s approval ratings shot up when voters were shown clips of her saying she didn’t want to live in a nation run by people who ‘debate whether my mixed-race children are English’ – including a leap from 40 per cent to 57 per cent among Reform voters.
Mr Farage has warned his colleagues to stop drawing lines around Englishness, ‘exchanging words’ with Suella Braverman after she suggested she could not be considered English because her parents were born abroad.
