Jacob Rees-Mogg says Ukip are Conservatives' 'natural allies' during political blind date with Green Party leader Natalie Bennett
David Cameron has not ruled out a coalition with Ukip and Nigel Farage said his party would be prepared to prop up a minority Tory government
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Your support makes all the difference.Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has said “Ukip are the natural allies of the Conservatives” during a political “blind date” with Green Party leader Natalie Bennett.
He made the comment while ruling out a coalition between their two parties because their economic policies were too different.
“The Greens are the natural allies of the Labour party, in the way that Ukip are the natural allies of the Conservatives: the Greens are essentially part of the broadly left vote and Ukip part of the broadly Conservative vote,” Mr Rees-Mogg told The Guardian.
The newspaper brought him and Ms Bennett together along with four other political pairs from opposing parties as part of a series of “blind dates”.
Their encounter appeared to be extremely cordial, with Ms Bennett describing the Eurosceptic North East Somerset MP as “a very urbane, pleasant individual on a personal level,” adding: “I’m sure he means well.”
That did not, however, stop her giving him a mere five out of 10.
Mr Rees-Mogg was rather more complimentary towards the Green Party leader, who took to the stage alongside Prime Minister David Cameron in the seven-way election debate.
He gave her full marks and described her as a “very capable”, “highly intelligent person” who makes a “formidable political opponent”.
As the general election nears and polls continue to show the possibility of another hung parliament, the different coalition combinations have been much discussed.
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Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps appeared to rule out an alliance with Ukip in January, saying: “We are not going to do pacts and deals with Ukip.”
But Mr Cameron did not sound so decisive while being questioned by Andrew Marr just weeks before, refusing to comment on who his party would or would not be prepared to join with the Eurosceptic party.
Nigel Farage, meanwhile, has said that Ukip would prop up a minority Tory government if it agreed to a “full, free and fair referendum on our continued membership of the European Union”.
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