Senior Conservative MPs are holding meetings this week to explore ways to remove party leader Kemi Badenoch, following devastating local election losses and the rapid rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.

Two senior backbenchers confirmed to The Independent that they are coordinating discussions with colleagues about ousting Badenoch. One MP stated bluntly: “We cannot continue as we are—and she’s just not up to the task.”

The internal unrest comes after the Conservatives lost control of 15 councils and 674 seats in last week’s local elections. Reform UK, led by Farage, won 676 seats and control of 10 councils, prompting claims that the Conservatives are no longer the main opposition to Labour.

“This is worse than the general election,” one MP said. “We’ve somehow gone backwards.”

The backlash has revived interest in potential leadership contenders. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, is said to be fielding calls to mount a fresh leadership bid just six months after his last attempt failed. Meanwhile, former foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly is being discussed as a centrist alternative to Jenrick’s right-wing platform.

Although Cleverly publicly pledged support for Badenoch in a weekend interview with GB News, he pointedly added, “I rule nothing in and nothing out.”

Frustration within the parliamentary party is growing over Badenoch’s perceived lack of a strategy to counter Reform. MPs say efforts to set up an “anti-Reform unit” to win back right-wing voters—backed by senior Brexiteers such as Sir Bill Cash—were dismissed by Badenoch.

“I feel like I’ve been banging my head against a brick wall,” said one senior MP. “There’s no plan to confront Farage and Reform.”

Some MPs are also critical of Badenoch’s staffing decisions, including the appointment of former MPs Rachel Maclean and Therese Coffey to senior advisory roles. “They don’t seem to grasp the scale of the crisis we’re in,” one MP commented.

Jenrick has drawn attention to his own local success, noting on X (formerly Twitter) that all Tory council candidates in his Newark constituency held their seats, while the party suffered widespread losses elsewhere. He also spent the weekend headlining party fundraisers across the country.

But for many Conservatives, patience is wearing thin. “If we give Kemi another year, it could be curtains for us,” one MP warned. “There are no policies, no strategy, no charisma—nothing.”

Despite growing calls for change, Badenoch’s position is somewhat protected by updated party rules requiring at least a third of Conservative MPs—currently 41—to submit letters to 1922 Committee chair Bob Blackman to trigger a confidence vote. Still, momentum against her appears to be building rapidly.