'Never forgive them!' Nigel Farage blasts Kemi Badenoch aide over claim Tories have finished apologising

Maclean had told supporters that the Conservatives had finished showing contrition following last year's election drubbing and stressed that Badenoch must now focus on earning back the trust of voters.

In a leaked recording of her speech to the Conservative Women's Organisation last month, obtained by The Telegraph, the ex-Redditch MP said: “We’ve done the mea culpas, we’ve done the apologies, we’ve done all that.

"Now we want to look to the future and have something to give people hope, because we do strongly believe that we are the only party with a coherent set of plans, and we want to rebuild our reputation for competence and trust, and we think that comes from doing this very difficult work now.”

In a direct response to Maclean's remarks, Farage said: "Oh no they haven't. The Tories must never be forgiven for what they have done to our country."

Many Tory MPs have also stressed that it will take at least two years for the public to forget the mistakes of the previous Tory Governments, pointing to the post-2024 slump in the polls as further evidence.

More in Common's MRP poll showed a drop in Conservative support to just 21 per cent, resulting in the rump of Tory MPs being reduced to just 81.

MORE ON REFORM UK:

• I visited Reform's new HQ. But did I find a Government-in-waiting or a protest movement?
• ‘Ain’t seen nothing yet!’ Farage sets sights on No10 as Reform insiders reveal reason behind surge
• 'Don't talk about him!' Boris Johnson tells Tories to ignore Reform as ex-PM defends migrant record

Meanwhile, Reform UK's rise has seen Farage edge ahead in 290 seats on 29 per cent of the vote.

Despite Maclean's remarks, the Leader of the Opposition issued an apology to business chiefs just days ago, telling the City AM that the Conservatives were “the natural party of business” and she was “sorry if at any time over the last 14 years we did not seem like that”.

However, Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride and Home Secretary Chris Philp have been among the top Tories to stop short of apologising for mistakes made between 2010 and 2024.

Maclean, who was appointed as director of strategy at Conservative Campaign Headquarters after running Badenoch's leadership campaign, also faced fury over her comments from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Labour Party chairwoman Ellie Reeves redeployed Sir Keir Starmer's 2024 General Election attack line of "14 years of failure".

She said: “It shows just how out of touch the Tories are that they believe they have said sorry for their 14 years of failure in Government.

“The Conservatives crashed the economy and left working people picking up the tab with sky-high mortgages and rocketing bills. Yet they haven’t apologised even once for their dismal record.

“The Tories’ attitude to the mess they made is completely tone deaf. It’s the same old Tories – they haven’t learned a thing.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper added: "The Conservatives are completely deluded if they think the public have forgiven or forgotten the mess they’ve left behind.

"This is a slap in the face for families still paying out more for their mortgage because Liz Truss tanked the economy.

"Kemi Badenoch should urgently confirm whether she agrees with her own senior official on this, or if she will properly apologise to all those who suffered due to years of Conservative chaos under the government in which she served."

The row comes shortly after Boris Johnson was reported to have told Tories that the best strategy to deal with Farage is to ignore him.

Speaking to the Swiss magazine Weltwoche, the former Prime Minister said: "My strategy with the individuals that you mention is don’t talk about them.

“When I was running the UK, this party you mention was on zero per cent in the polls, sometimes three per cent max.

"Don’t talk about them. Talk about what you are going to offer the people.”

The Brexit Party had hit highs of 19 per cent when Johnson took over as Tory leader in July 2019, later collapsing to just two per cent when Farage opted to stand down hundreds of candidates to help halt Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit-reversing march to No10.