Conservatives will NOT enter 'pacts or deals' with Ukip, claims Tory chairman Grant Shapps
ANY "pacts and deals" between Ukip and the Conservatives following this year's General Election have been ruled out by Tory chairman Grant Shapps.
Although opinion polls indicate a hung Parliament is the most likely outcome of May's vote, Mr Shapps insisted that the Conservatives would not be getting into bed with the anti-EU party.
Smaller parties are likely to hold the balance of power in the House of Commons if both the Tories or Labour fail to win a majority, as is currently predicted.
Asked if he could rule out a coalition with Nigel Farage's party, Mr Shapps said: "I can rule out - we are not going to do pacts and deals with Ukip."
Speaking at the launch of a campaign pamphlet detailing what he claimed were "30 days of Labour chaos", the Tory Party chairman added that the Conservatives were aiming for an overall majority but that May's vote was set to be "an incredibly close election"
Recent polls have given the Tories a slender lead over Labour, however, nowhere near the 10 per cent margin they would need to guarantee an outright majority following the General Election – now less than 100 days away.
When quizzed over his party's failure to establish a comfortable lead, Mr Shapps said that many voters would not consider who to support until around 10 days before the poll.
He said: "Actually, we have seen the opinion polls close, but I'm the first to concede this is going to be an incredibly close election."
Mr Shapps also suggested a win from any party except the Tories would results in "a large degree of chaos".
I can rule out - we are not going to do pacts and deals with Ukip
He said: "With the Conservatives, you may like it or not but you know what you are getting," he said.
"You are getting a competent government who are serious about running the economy, serious about reducing the deficit and eventually producing a surplus. You know what our programme is.
"With any of the other choices, you are going to get a large degree of chaos."
Earlier this week, Mr Farage raised the prospect of a deal between Ukip and the Tories, if Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to an immediate in/out referendum on Britain's EU membership.
He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "We could potentially do a deal with Mr Cameron on this but not unless the timing and the terms of the referendum were right."
The Ukip leader added that in exchanged for supporting a Conservative-led Government, he would tell Mr Cameron: "I would say ‘I want a referendum, I want it now'.”
Mr Farage is confident his party, who currently have two MPs after Tory defections, will win three or four seats at the General Election.
Earlier this month, a poll by the British Future think-tank found that two thirds of Ukip supporters believe the party will form part of the Government.
