The Conservatives concluded the party conference season last week with their event in Birmingham. Kemi Badenoch’s second conference as leader centred on one question: can the party persuade voters, particularly those drifting towards Reform UK, that it has changed since its worst-ever defeat in 2024?
In the run-up to the conference, the party set out a raft of policies on tightening welfare and expanding prisons, including 50,000 new prison places and 30 hours of free childcare for parents working 16 or more hours a week. Badenoch also suggested cutting inheritance tax was “morally right”, but only if it were fiscally responsible. In her closing speech she vowed to keep drilling in the North Sea, alongside renewables and nuclear.
Reform was the subtext throughout. Attracting Reform voters was a key aim, and More in Common found that Reform voters have warmed to Badenoch. Her speech also took Reform on directly, criticising comments questioning whether Black Britons are English.
The challenges are clear, however. The party still trails both Labour and Reform in the polls, and Labour mocked the sparsely filled main hall. Critics also note that last year’s stamp duty pledge did not shift the Conservatives’ polling position, which raises doubts about whether another costly tax-cutting promise will do so.