Kemi Badenoch has insisted the Conservative Party is enjoying “a very good conference”, despite growing questions about her leadership and a series of defections to Reform UK.
Speaking to the BBC from the party’s annual gathering in Manchester, the Tory leader said members had been “thrilled” with the policy announcements, including plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and proposals to cut £47 billion from public spending.
She rejected claims that this year’s event lacked the atmosphere or attendance of previous conferences, recounting how she had joined “really excited” young Conservatives in singing Sweet Caroline on Monday evening.
“I think that we’ve been having a very good conference,” Mrs Badenoch said. “It was a tough defeat that we had at the last election, but we are showing people the direction that I’m taking the party.”
A scaled-back gathering
The Manchester conference has been noticeably smaller than in recent years, with fewer exhibition stands and half-filled halls during speeches by shadow cabinet ministers.
Mrs Badenoch brushed off concerns about turnout. “A lot of the people who came just because we were in government — the corporate lobbyists — yes, they’re not there, but our members are here,” she said.
“This is one of the first conferences I’ve been to where it has really felt like the members owned it, and I’m really proud of that.”
Leadership and defections
The upbeat tone has been overshadowed by both doubts over her leadership and the continuing rise of Reform UK. On Tuesday morning, as Mrs Badenoch embarked on a round of media interviews, Nigel Farage’s party announced a steady stream of Conservative councillors switching allegiance.
The defections follow Conservative frontbencher Andrew Rosindell’s suggestion of an electoral pact between the two parties. Meanwhile, a YouGov poll released on Monday indicated that half of Tory members believe Mrs Badenoch is not the right person to lead the party into the next general election.
Speaking to Times Radio, she dismissed that view. “We need to turn our country around, and we’re the only party that can deliver that stronger economy and stronger borders that this conference is about,” she said.
“If I thought someone else could do it, then I’d be taking a step back. I think that I’m the right person and I’m the best person.”
She again ruled out any alliance with Reform, stating there was “no deal to be done”, and played down the defections. “It’s going to be a long journey back from a historic defeat, and on very long, difficult journeys you will lose some people on the way,” she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“Just last year, we had MPs jumping to Labour because Labour was doing well in the polls. They’re not doing so well now,” she added. “There are some people who will leave because all they want to do is win elections. They don’t know what they’re winning the elections for.”
The ECHR debate
Mrs Badenoch acknowledged that her proposal to withdraw from the ECHR would be challenging.
“The difference between Conservatives and a party like Reform is that we recognise there will be difficulties,” she told the BBC’s Today programme. “We’re not going to pretend that this is all going to be easy and it’ll get done in an afternoon. We are being honest.”
She admitted that leaving the ECHR could complicate the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU but stressed it would not automatically lead to the agreement being scrapped.
“The Trade and Co-operation Agreement could be terminated at any time already, irrespective of leaving the ECHR,” she said. “We do not need to be in the ECHR for that agreement to continue. It’s just one extra ground which they could use if they chose to do so.”
Jenrick to address conference
Later on Tuesday, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick — Mrs Badenoch’s former leadership rival and, according to YouGov, the preferred successor among members — is expected to deliver a keynote speech.
He is set to call for sweeping reforms to judicial appointments, claiming he has “uncovered a hidden network of activist judges with links to open border campaigns” and warning that a “deep rot has infected parts of our judiciary”. He will also propose scrapping the Sentencing Council, arguing its recommendations have “watered down” punishments set out by Parliament and risk creating a “two-tier” justice system.
A Labour Party spokesperson dismissed the proposals as a “cynical gimmick” from “a man who constantly undermines the independence of the judiciary just to further his own career”.
A Labour source added: “Robert Jenrick’s answer to what he perceives as the over-politicisation of judges is to have him personally pick ones that pass his purity tests.
“No institution is beyond accountability, but we should broadly be proud in Britain of our independent judiciary that ensures everyday protections for working-class people. Judges can only give rulings on the law, no more, no less. Jenrick either doesn’t know this, which would be worrying for a shadow justice secretary, or does — and clearly doesn’t care about the impact of his divisive rhetoric.”
