The political rivalry between Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch has escalated into a public dispute over their respective relationships with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The row began on Monday when The Times published an article claiming that Meloni had advised Badenoch against doing a deal with Farage to unite the right. After complaints from Reform UK and, reportedly, Meloni's team, the article was amended to remove that claim.
Reform claims apology from Meloni
Sources close to Farage told the Guardian that Meloni and the Reform UK leader had a conversation this week in which she apologised for any confusion. They said she congratulated him for his win in the Clacton byelection this month, in which his main opponent was a man dressed as a bin. A Reform source added: “Meloni’s people have also relayed that they are deeply unhappy and disappointed about what happened.”
The Italian prime minister’s team said that she “did not enter and does not want to enter into domestic political dynamics and relations between British parties”.
Badenoch's selfie sparks controversy
On Monday, after a trip to Rome, Badenoch posted a selfie with Meloni on social media, praising her “straight-talking, no-nonsense” attitude. The subsequent furore over her comments seems to have killed her buzz. A source close to the Tory leader told the Guardian: “It is very frustrating that Reform is picking up on crossed wires and desperately trying to make it a thing, whipping this whole episode up into something it is not.”
Shortly after Badenoch’s post, the former Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick, now a Reform MP, said at a press conference: “It was obviously very, very embarrassing for Kemi Badenoch. My advice, if you go and visit a foreign leader, is don’t make up a pack of lies about what they say.” Farage weighed in, adding: “I don’t see a single quote from Giorgia Meloni herself. I see what Kemi Badenoch tells us Giorgia Meloni said.”
Tories accuse Reform of conspiracy theories
A Tory spokesperson insisted the party had not made any false claims. “Reform are just making things up and peddling conspiracy theories to distract from their fishy £5m donation scandal,” they said.
Meloni, a populist Italian firebrand who is firmly anti-migration and champions social conservatism, including opposition to same-sex marriage, swept to power in Italy in 2022. She has since somewhat moderated her approach and has become influential among world leaders, topping power lists in Forbes, Time magazine and Politico. Many on the right are keen to win her affections.
Meloni's appeal to rightwing leaders
Raheem Kassam, a former adviser to Nigel Farage who owns the US politics website the National Pulse, said Meloni had fostered a good relationship with Farage since 2016. “I have known Giorgia for a long time and in no world would she have done something like that. It’s not her style,” he said. “She has a great personality. Her own personal strength and conviction is admirable.”
He said politicians such as Donald Trump and Farage admired Meloni because she achieved power despite the odds being stacked against her. “When we were first meeting with Meloni in 2016, everyone said the Italians will never accept a female prime minister,” he said. “But, she just went for it and did it anyway. Very Trumpian, doing it despite the ‘haters and losers’.”
Her government is on track to become the longest-serving single administration in the history of the republic on 4 September and is leading the polls before next year’s election. Kassam said: “She is perceived as respected, stable, is able to hold a government together, is able to get things done. Through all the turmoil, Meloni has been steadfast. She is tough, successful, brave and admirable – I think somebody like Kemi would have a lot to learn from Giorgia.”
Meloni's falling out with Trump
Meloni recently had a spectacular falling out with Trump after he claimed she “begged” for a photograph with him at the G7 summit. She was once known as the “Trump whisperer”, but rather than take his insult lying down, the prime minister posted a furious video response on social media. She hissed: “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
They also clashed after the US president criticised Pope Leo XIV. He posted on his Truth Social website that the pontiff was “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” after the pope publicly expressed disapproval over Trump’s Iran war and the president’s declaration that he would end Iranian civilisation. Meloni, a Catholic, said Trump’s comments were “unacceptable”, adding that it was “right and normal” for the pope, as the head of the Catholic church, “to call for peace and to condemn every form of war”.
This has not deterred Farage from nurturing his relationship with Meloni. Despite his frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago to foster a friendship with Trump, he is said to be unconcerned about any blowback. A Reform source said: “If Trump has an enemy, he doesn’t expect everyone else to make them their enemy too.”
