Kemi Badenoch May Have Just Set the Dial for a Tory Revival

Associate Editor Rayhan Hussain argues that Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech marks a renewal that could relaunch Tory fortunes.

Kemi Badenoch’s address to the party faithful in Manchester wasn’t just another Leader’s Speech – it was a genuine reset. The tone was disciplined, the offer concrete, and the delivery the strongest of her leadership thus far. The many standing ovations in the room were a clear barometer of a programme rooted in conservative principles. A smaller state, sound money, secure borders, and a preference for ownership over dependency.

Unlike Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the Tory leader didn’t obsess over Reform. She trained her fire where it mattered – on the mess Labour has made of our economy since taking office. Labour’s tax-and-borrow ‘doom loop’ lays bare the unravelling credibility of a government hooked on other people’s money. It is shameful.

The party has introduced a new framework – the Golden Economic Rule. Half of every pound saved goes to reducing the deficit, with the rest rightly towards growth-enhancing tax cuts. None of this works without the £47 billion in savings identified by the Shadow Cabinet. You can’t borrow your way to growth.

Then came the rabbit. Framed through her own story of gaining the keys to her first home, the Tory leader announced that the next Conservative government will abolish Stamp Duty on primary residences, a tax cut benefitting voters of all ages. As Badenoch rightly argued, Stamp Duty is an un-Conservative tax. It inhibits mobility, punishes aspiration, and clobbers those looking to downsize in retirement as much as it does for first-time buyers. These are the contours of fiscal conservatism that activists can sell on the doorstep.

She also set out an agenda to reverse Labour’s damaging anti-growth measures. That means scrapping Labour’s VAT raid on private schools, which punishes parents who work hard to invest in their children’s future; reversing the Family Farms Tax, hampering an industry that remains the backbone of our economy; ditching the Jobs Tax – Labour’s hike in employers’ National Insurance, which is anti-business and suppresses job creation. It was a refreshing yet terrifyingly stark contrast. Where Conservatives cut the burden on firms and families, Labour increases it – and they are only coming back for more.

There was an offer too for young people. A £5,000 National Insurance rebate, directed towards the cost of a first home. For small businesses, a plan to abolish business rates for shops and pubs – freeing around 250,000 SMEs from a tax that stifles local enterprise. This is a Conservative Party that rewards effort and hard graft, not slogans readily available elsewhere.

Badenoch has long been averse to announcing policy without a clear plan. Which is why it was right to ask Lord Wolfson KC to review whether ECHR membership is choking our ability to determine who should be in our country. Set against five tests, he made a persuasive case that leaving the Convention and repealing the Human Rights Act are the only way to untie ourselves from the knot of Strasbourg and restore Britain’s asylum policy to democratic control.

Better late than never, the Tory leader did something great leaders too often forget – vindicating the good we did in government. We sent English schools soaring up the international league tables, legalised same-sex marriage, honoured the largest democratic mandate in our history by leaving the EU, led the Western coalition behind supporting Ukraine, slashed the deficit every year until the pandemic, and lifted millions out of tax and millions into work – I could go on. It’s clear proof that Conservative governments transform lives when they trust the individual and unburden the state.

This speech was undoubtedly the standout moment of Badenoch’s leadership to date. It carried shades of the best Cameron-era conference speeches. She demonstrated an authentic conservatism that has simply been missing in British politics for far too long. And her confidence and stature as the Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, and credibly, a future Conservative prime minister, are beginning to show.

Our country’s politics is at a crossroads. But the next few months are critical. Badenoch’s programme piles pressure on the Chancellor ahead of her Budget next month, where Labour must show it can plug a stubborn deficit without taking yet more from hard-working Brits. I won’t hold out much hope for that.

One line stood out to me from Kemi Badenoch’s speech: “The Labour Party fails when it follows its principles. We fail when we don’t follow ours.” It captures the brutal reality of our political decay.

While we did great things in government, we forgot our principles. The real choice must be between sound money, strong borders, and low taxes – vs. higher taxes, higher dependency, and managerialism. It is clear what side I’m on.

No single speech will change the course of the national landscape. Of course it won’t. The fundamentals remain tough. Public patience with politicians is thin, and national polls still have our party stuck in the teens.

The task is enormous. Borrowing must come down, spending must be brought under control, and the state must do less. Growth doesn’t come from decisions made by those sitting in Whitehall departments. It comes from the millions of hard-working people making choices with more of their own money, and from businesses free to invest without fear of arbitrary taxes. Only once we start being honest about the economy again can we properly rebuild prosperity and trust.

This policy blitz finally puts meat on the bones. It inspires MPs, councillors, and activists with a credible offer for the doorstep – and it puts the Conservatives clearly back into contention.

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the start of a journey of rebuilding trust with the British people – and the start of a journey of restoring the Conservative Party’s credibility for fiscal prudence and sound money.