Christopher Hope challenged Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch over the latest high-profile defection to Reform UK, asking directly: "What does Nigel Farage have that you haven't?"
The question came after former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry announced he was joining Nigel Farage's party, becoming the fifth former Tory MP to make the switch.
The GB News political editor pressed Badenoch on multiple fronts, questioning whether she would apologise for the Benefits Bill that "spiralled under your Government's watch" as she had done on immigration.
He said: "The benefits bill spiralled under your Government's watch, didn’t it, Kemi Badenoch? Would you apologise for saying you got it wrong, as you have had to do on immigration?
Christopher Hope grilled the Tory leader
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"And just on that question about Jake Berry and David Jones jumping ship to Reform UK, what does Nigel Farage have that you haven’t?"
She responded: "First of all, we brought the deficit down every year until the pandemic.
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"The pandemic was not something the Conservatives caused, that was a global problem.
"And I can tell you, if Labour or even Reform had been in charge during the pandemic, we would be in a much worse situation than we are now."
The Conservative leader went on: "As I said, we brought the number of workless households down. Worklessness kills, it completely destroys life chances for children.
"That is something only we have fixed, and we will fix it again. We do not want to see this problem coming back."
WATCH: Jake Berry declares 'Britain is broken' as he defends defection from Tories to Reform
She added: "What Nigel Farage has that I haven’t is the ability to tell people whatever it is they want to hear.
"If people want the truth, they should come to the Conservatives. That’s what I stand for."
Berry, who lost his seat at the last General Election, announced his defection in The Sun, declaring: "Old Westminster politics has failed. But there's a better way."
The former MP for Rossendale and Darwen from 2010 to 2024 said he was backing Reform UK "because I've always believed that change comes with challenging the old order. In shaking up the system when it isn't working".
Badenoch said "if people want the truth, they should come to the Conservatives"
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Berry, who opposed Brexit ahead of the 2016 referendum, praised his new party leader for having "always stuck by his principles, even when it was unpopular".
He said Farage "doesn't change his views, when the political weather changes", adding: "Because you know you can trust him, I can trust him too and that's why I'm going to spend every day campaigning to ensure that Nigel Farage and Reform form the next Government of this great United Kingdom."
The former Conservative chairman had been a close ally of both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss during his political career.
He served in several positions, including in the Cabinet Office and was part of the Northern Powerhouse Group, championing investment in northern England.