Kemi Badenoch declares herself a classic old-school Tory

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has positioned herself firmly as a classic old-school Conservative, arguing that welfare must serve strictly as a safety net rather than a lifestyle choice. Describing herself as a no-nonsense mother, she addressed her party's ongoing struggles in opinion polls following their historic defeat at the 2024 general election.

The speech and her newly released essay, titled The Right Way—a deliberate nod to Margaret Thatcher's 1976 publication The Right Approach—argue that the previous Conservative administration failed because it lacked a defined ideological stance and allowed the state to expand unchecked during its 14 years in power.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Badenoch emphasised that the core principle for any future Conservative government must be that business rather than government drives economic growth. She outlined proposals to achieve this through tax cuts, reducing red tape, and shrinking the civil service back to pre-pandemic levels.

During the party conference in Birmingham, the Conservatives also unveiled a pledge to eliminate the childcare cliff edge that currently blocks parents earning over 100,000 pounds from receiving entitlements, alongside a plan to deliver 50,000 new prison spaces by capping the overseas aid budget at 1 billion pounds a year.