Labour woes mean Tory smiles. The Conservatives have ended the parliamentary session on a (reasonable) high, after last week’s benefits debacle. At the shadow cabinet yesterday, frontbenchers were treated to a presentation by Mark McInnes, the new chief executive, and Paul Bristow – the only real success story from May’s local elections. This evening, it was the turn of Kemi Badenoch to address the 1922 Committee for their final meeting before the summer recess.
Badenoch’s speech was an upbeat affair. She pointed to the U-turns secured on welfare, grooming gangs and winter fuel. Progress was highlighted in a number of key areas, after the shambles of the last election. Following the betting scandal, the Tories have now rebuilt their candidates’ team. Social media has been overhauled; a new external agency has been brought to offer advice. There was much talk of the importance of principles unlike the (implicitly) populist Reform. Little reference was made to the recent local elections, in which the party won 15 per cent of the vote.
The Tory leader also used her speech to set out a plan for the next three months. She urged attendees to return to their constituencies this summer, to get their name out there and ensure that Nigel Farage does not dominate the political space. Then there will be conference, when the party’s new stance on membership of the ECHR will be revealed. Badenoch told MPs a variation of the same formulation she has used many times previously. She is prepared to leave the ECHR if it is deemed necessary. But, she stressed, it will not act as a magic bullet for any of Britain’s current woes.
She noted too that the last time the Tories were in opposition, the 1998 conference was a much more gloomy than 1997, owing to the distraction of the leadership contest. Badenoch told her MPs that she wanted to see all 120 of them in Birmingham this October. Around 70 had piled in today to Committee Room 14 to hear her speech. Thirty seconds of applause greeted her arrival, while questions were a mix of fawning and politeness. James Cleverly fulsomely praised Kemi Badenoch’s leadership while Edward Leigh inquired about Lord Wolfson’s role in deciding the ECHR policy.
Afterwards, it was back to the shadow cabinet room for farewell summer drinks. A positive, if slightly pedestrian, end to a long term. After a tricky 12 months for the Tories, that is no bad thing.
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