Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have spent years trading barbs and fighting for the rightwing vote. But now the party leaders find themselves in a much more bizarre struggle – for the affections of the rightwing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The row began on Monday when the Times published an article claiming that during a meeting in Rome, Meloni had advised the Conservative leader against doing a deal with Farage to unite the right. After complaints from Reform – and, reportedly, Meloni’s team – the article was amended to remove that claim.

Uniting the right? Badenoch’s meeting with Meloni was subsequently the subject of debate. Photograph: Christine Quarmyne/CCHQ

Now, sources close to Farage have told the Guardian that Meloni and the Reform UK leader had a conversation this week in which she apologised for any confusion. They said she had congratulated him for his win in the Clacton byelection this month, in which his main opponent was a man dressed as a bin.

A Reform source added: “Meloni’s people have also relayed that they are deeply unhappy and disappointed about what happened.”

The Italian prime minister’s team said that she “did not enter and does not want to enter into domestic political dynamics and relations between British parties”.

On Monday, after a trip to Rome, Badenoch triumphantly posted a selfie with Meloni on social media, along with a gushing caption which praised the European politician’s “straight-talking, no-nonsense” attitude.

Kemi Badenoch praised Giorgia Meloni’s ‘straight-talking, no-nonsense’ attitude in the caption to her selfie. Photograph: @KemiBadenoch/Twitter/X

But the subsequent furore over Badenoch’s comments seems to have killed her buzz. A source close to the Tory leader told the Guardian: “It is very frustrating that Reform is picking up on crossed wires and desperately trying to make it a thing, whipping this whole episode up into something it is not.”

Shortly after Badenoch’s cheerful post, the former Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick, now a Reform MP, crowed at a press conference: “It was obviously very, very embarrassing for Kemi Badenoch. My advice, if you go and visit a foreign leader, is don’t make up a pack of lies about what they say.”

Farage weighed in, adding: “I don’t see a single quote from Giorgia Meloni herself. I see what Kemi Badenoch tells us Giorgia Meloni said.”

A Tory spokesperson insisted the party had not made any false claims. “Reform are just making things up and peddling conspiracy theories to distract from their fishy £5m donation scandal,” they said.

Meloni, a populist Italian firebrand who is firmly anti-migration and champions social conservatism, including opposition to same-sex marriage, swept to power in Italy in 2022. She has since somewhat moderated her approach and has become influential among world leaders, topping power lists in Forbes, Time magazine and Politico. Many on the right are keen to win her affections.

Giorgia Meloni, seen here at a ceremony this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the Amatrice earthquake, leads polls before next year’s election. Photograph: Remo Casilli/Reuters

Raheem Kassam, a former adviser to Nigel Farage who owns the US politics website the National Pulse, said Meloni had fostered a good relationship with Farage since 2016.

“I have known Giorgia for a long time and in no world would she have done something like that. It’s not her style,” he said. “She has a great personality. Her own personal strength and conviction is admirable.”

skip past newsletter promotionFree newsletter | Every weekday

Sign up to First Edition

Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters

He said politicians such as Donald Trump and Farage admired Meloni because she achieved power despite the odds being stacked against her. “When we were first meeting with Meloni in 2016, everyone said the Italians will never accept a female prime minister,” he said. “But, she just went for it and did it anyway. Very Trumpian, doing it despite the ‘haters and losers’.”

Perhaps rightwing politicians also hope Meloni’s stardust will rub off on them. Her government is on track to become the longest-serving single administration in the history of the republic on 4 September and is leading the polls before next year’s election.

Kassam said: “She is perceived as respected, stable, is able to hold a government together, is able to get things done. Through all the turmoil, Meloni has been steadfast. She is tough, successful, brave and admirable – I think somebody like Kemi would have a lot to learn from Giorgia.”

Giorgia Meloni was once known as the ‘Trump whisperer’ but has since clashed with the US president. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Pool/AP

Meloni recently had a spectacular falling out with Trump after he claimed she “begged” for a photograph with him at the G7 summit. She was once known as the “Trump whisperer”, but rather than take his insult lying down, the prime minister posted a furious video response on social media. She hissed: “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

They also clashed after the US president criticised Pope Leo XIV. He posted on his Truth Social website that the pontiff was “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” after the pope publicly expressed disapproval over Trump’s Iran war and the president’s declaration that he would end Iranian civilisation.

Meloni, a Catholic, said Trump’s comments were “unacceptable”, adding that it was “right and normal” for the pope, as the head of the Catholic church, “to call for peace and to condemn every form of war”.

This has not deterred Farage from nurturing his relationship with Meloni. Despite his frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago to foster a friendship with Trump, he is said to be unconcerned about any blowback. A Reform source said: “If Trump has an enemy, he doesn’t expect everyone else to make them their enemy too.”