Robert Jenrick has vowed to “bring this coalition together” to ensure that Conservatives and Reform UK are no longer fighting each other for votes by the time of the next election, according to a leaked recording obtained by Sky News.

The shadow justice secretary told an event with students last month he would try “one way or another” to make sure Reform UK and the Tories do not compete at another general election and hand a second term in office to Sir Keir Starmer in the process.

In the exclusive audio, Mr Jenrick can be heard telling the students he is still working hard to put Reform UK out of business – the position of the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

However, more controversially, the comments also suggest he can envisage a time when that position may no longer be viable and has to change. He denies any suggestion this means he is advocating a Tory-Reform UK pact.

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The shadow justice secretary came second to Mrs Badenoch in the last leadership contest and is the bookies’ favourite to replace her as the next Conservative leader.

Speaking to the UCL Conservative association dinner in late March, he can be heard saying: “[Reform UK] continues to do well in the polls. And my worry is that they become a kind of permanent or semi-permanent fixture on the British political scene. And if that is the case, and I say, I am trying to do everything I can to stop that being the case, then life becomes a lot harder for us, because the right is not united.

“And then you head towards the general election, where the nightmare scenario is that Keir Starmer sails in through the middle as a result of the two parties being disunited. I don’t know about you, but I’m not prepared for that to happen.

“I want the right to be united. And so, one way or another, I’m determined to do that and to bring this coalition together and make sure we unite as a nation as well.”

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This is the furthest a member of the shadow cabinet has gone in suggesting that they think the approach to Reform UK may evolve before the next general election.

Last night, Mr Jenrick denied this meant he was advocating a pact with Reform UK.

Sir Keir used Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday to accuse Ms Badenoch of having “lost control of her party” and said Mr Jenrick and Reform leader Nigel Farage are “cooking up their joint manifesto”.

“The member for Clacton (Mr Farage) is going to do what he always does – eat the Tory party for breakfast,” he added.

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A source close to Mr Jenrick said: “Rob’s comments are about voters and not parties. He’s clear we have to put Reform out of business and make the Conservatives the natural home for all those on the right, rebuilding the coalition of voters we had in 2019 and can have again. But he’s under no illusions how difficult that is – we have to prove over time we’ve changed and can be trusted again.”

Mrs Badenoch has said in interviews that she cannot see any circumstances in which the Tories under her leadership would do a deal with Reform UK.

Richard Fuller, the Conservative’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, insisted to Sky News Mr Jenrick was not talking about a coalition, but meant if you divide up “the right” then “you end up with a far left government” and “we want to make sure we don’t repeat that mistake”.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice told Sky News “competition is a good thing” and for people who do not want to vote for Labour, “they’ve got to vote for common sense, courage and leadership, and you only get that from Reform UK”.

“Frankly, they [the Conservatives] should disappear into sort of yester-year,” he said.

“And we are at a once in a century moment where a new party is taking over from the Conservatives.”

Mr Tice added: “Robert, you’re saying some good things on justice. But you’re in the wrong party, chap.”

Chair of the Labour Party, Ellie Reeves, said: “I think people have the right to know what they’re voting for when they go to the polls, are they voting for a coalition of chaos or voting Conservative, getting Reform, voting Reform, getting Conservative?

“These grubby backroom deals Jenrick seems to be talking about, they need to come clean about it, Badenoch needs to come clean about it.”

In next week’s local elections, Reform UK will compete directly against the Tories in a series of contests from Kent to Lincolnshire. At last year’s general election, in more than 170 of the 251 constituencies lost by the Conservatives the Reform vote was greater than the margin of the Tories’ defeat.

Today’s YouGov/Sky voting intention figures put Reform UK in front on 25%, Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 20%, with the Lib Dems on 16% and Greens on 10%.