Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has privately urged Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to "stand your ground" and resist any electoral pact with Nigel Farage's Reform UK, according to reports of a private meeting between the two leaders. The two women, both facing pressure from insurgent right-wing rivals in their respective countries, met for an hour-long coffee in Rome on Monday, with the intervention notable given Badenoch has already repeatedly and publicly ruled out a coalition with Reform.

The pair met at Antica Caffetteria near the Pantheon, discussing shared challenges including retaining wealthy job-creators, support for Ukraine, migration and the European Convention on Human Rights. Meloni reportedly told Badenoch to "be your own woman" and pointed to Britain's history of women leaders such as Margaret Thatcher. Badenoch later praised Meloni on social media for restoring investor confidence in Italy, while reaffirming her own rejection of a "monstrous" Tory-Reform hybrid government, a stance Farage dismissed by saying he does not trust the Conservatives.