Tory conference: Badenoch pitches changed party as Griffith readies economy speech

The Conservative Party conference is under way in Birmingham, with Kemi Badenoch seeking to present a renewed party and move on from its historic defeat at the 2024 general election. She arrived at the conference centre to cheers from activists and told reporters that people would see a new Conservative Party, not the one rejected in 2024. In a speech and Q&A, she pitched the Tories as the party of common sense and said a government should be judged not by how nice its intentions are but by what it actually achieves.

She used the opening day to launch 'The Right Way', a 100-page personal manifesto and plan for government. The document is inspired by 'The Right Approach', produced by Keith Joseph for Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s. Badenoch said Keir Starmer did not have a plan and Andy Burnham does not have one either. She told delegates: 'When we win the next election, and we will.' She also said the party had booted out the plotters and the badly behaved, in an apparent reference to Robert Jenrick, and argued that the Conservatives were now a united party. A Conservative source said the mood was upbeat, though the party still has hard yards to do with a public that is not yet giving it a hearing.

Policy announcements and themes included: - Childcare: remove the £100,000 earnings cap so parents working 16 or more hours a week can get 30 hours of free childcare, even if one parent earns more than £100,000. Badenoch said it should not be about how much people earn. - Crime: create 50,000 new prison places, costing around £2bn, funded by cuts to foreign aid and the culture department. The party also promises to end the early release scheme. - Pensions: keep the triple lock, despite internal debate and past criticism from senior Tories, including a former de facto deputy prime minister. - Economy: Andrew Griffith, the new shadow chancellor, is due to use the conference to promise deregulation, cutting the cost of a new home by up to £50,000 through removing red tape and scrapping net zero building regulations, scrapping a £1.5bn grocery tax, backing Heathrow expansion, and abolishing quangos including Natural England and the Environment Agency. - Welfare and the state: Badenoch wants a smaller state, lower taxes and less generous welfare. She said government has grown by a third since Covid and asked whether it is a third better.

Party figures say the conference is a festival of ideas where debate is encouraged. That has already exposed disagreement over the triple lock, with some members and former ministers saying it is unsustainable. The shadow cabinet insists the party is united and committed to the policy.

The Conservatives are in a better mood than a year ago. Badenoch's personal approval ratings have improved, her internal position looks more secure, and Reform UK has faced its own troubles. But the party's polling remains weak. One poll of polls put the Conservatives on 19%, Reform on 23% and Labour on 26%. Other polling cited put the Tories around 20%, worse than their 2024 result. Senior figures acknowledge the Tory brand is still toxic for many voters and that the party is fighting for attention in a fragmented political landscape. In the conference centre, the party displayed a reimagined Bayeux Tapestry that set out attack lines on Labour figures and Nigel Farage. It also handed out a bottle of water branded 'Burnham' and envelopes mocking Farage. The conference continues with economy day, followed by Badenoch's main speech on Wednesday.