Kemi Badenoch has pledged to restore “common sense” Conservatism, while offering her strongest indication yet that the party could seek to cut inheritance tax.
Opening the Conservatives’ conference in Birmingham, Mrs Badenoch said she was following Margaret Thatcher’s example by returning to core principles as part of an effort to turn Britain around.
The Tory leader argued that successive governments had been thrown off course by events because they focused too heavily on performative policies rather than firmly held beliefs about what was right.
As she sought to build on signs of a tentative revival for the party, Mrs Badenoch presented herself as a “no-nonsense mum” in contrast to Andy Burnham’s “cheesy uncle”.
She also indicated that a series of eye-catching announcements could be on the way, arguing that reducing inheritance tax would be “morally right”.
Shadow ministers have unveiled a flurry of policies designed to demonstrate that the Conservatives are a serious government-in-waiting.
Among the proposals is an end to the “cliff edge” in childcare entitlement, which currently leaves parents earning more than £100,000 ineligible.
Deputy leader Alex Burghart has promised to reverse any attempt by Andy Burnham to unwind Brexit, while shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith is reportedly considering measures to rein in public spending.
Kemi Badenoch opened the Conservatives’ conference in Birmingham by saying she was taking inspiration from Thatcher and returning to core principles to turn Britain around
The Tory leader said governments had been repeatedly buffeted by events after prioritising performative policies over fundamental beliefs about what was right
Mrs Badenoch has published a 95-page “mission statement” setting out how the Conservatives would govern in the “right way”
Speaking on stage at the start of the conference, Mrs Badenoch said: “When we win the next election, and we will, we are going to need to hit the ground running.
“We will need to be ready from day one, having already shown people what kind of government we are going to be, and that is why today I have published The Right Way.”
She compared the new mission statement with The Right Approach, a document published under Thatcher in 1976, three years before she won power.
“We governed for 18 years after that, because we started with the right foundations, and we are going to do the same again,” Mrs Badenoch said.
Mrs Badenoch said Andy Burnham would face the same fate as Keir Starmer because, in her view, both lacked direction.
“Keir Starmer didn’t have a plan. That’s why he’s gone,” she said.
“Andy Burnham doesn’t have one either and that is why I know the announcements he is making will all come to nought.
“We have to be different, different from Labour, and different from the party we were two years ago.”
She added: “In government, we will be buffeted by unexpected events, wars we were not predicting, like the war in Ukraine and now the war in Iran.
‘Governments were not expecting the global financial crisis. In the 2019 general election, no-one would have believed that a global pandemic was coming.
‘We have to be ready for anything. We will be pressured to bend with the wind. That’s why we need strong roots to make sure we do what is in Britain’s long-term interests instead of politicians’ short-term interests.’
Inheritance tax is seen as a charge on aspiration, even though most families do not pay it.
The 40 per cent levy applies to estates worth more than £325,000, but for most married couples the rate is effectively £1million due to allowances being transferrable and relief on £350,000 of the value of a primary home being handed down.
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Speaking to the Sunday Times ahead of the conference, Mrs Badenoch was asked if she planned to abolish the tax.
She replied: ‘It is morally right that people don’t get taxed twice. It is morally right that if you work hard and want to give something to your children the Government doesn’t take it away.’
Mrs Badenoch later added: ‘I am not going to announce tax cuts unless we can show how we pay for them… tax cuts are a good thing but you’ve got to be fiscally responsible.’
Under the Tory proposals on childcare, all parents working 16 or more hours a week will be eligible to get 30 hours of free care a week.
The policy is estimated to cost £700million a year, which party officials say could be funded by cutting the number of public servants at arm’s-length bodies.
Mrs Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘What we want to see is that people who work harder don’t get punished for doing so.’
Elsewhere, the Tories have announced a plan to tighten access to student loans for non-UK nationals – a policy they say would save the taxpayer £900million a year.
The proposals would also block EU Settled Status (EUSS) claims, a system the Tories said is being ‘abused’.
Mrs Badenoch’s combative performances in Parliament have won praise and seen her personal ratings improve significantly.
However, the Conservative brand still appears to be lagging behind, with party chiefs keen to show there is a strong team.
Dismissing suggestions that a focus on cutting benefits and building more prisons signalled a return of the so-called ‘nasty party’, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘It’s the common sense party. That’s what we’re doing.
‘And, quite frankly, if we were doing so well the old way, then why did we have such a terrible issue in 2024?’
She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘I am a classic old-school conservative. I believe in common sense: people working hard and being rewarded for that effort.’
Despite wanting to draw a clear line under mistakes of the past, Mrs Badenoch said some principles were ‘timeless’ and should continue to guide the party.
She has released a 95-page ‘mission statement’ entitled ‘The Right Way’, describing the principles that will underpin a Tory government.
‘The principles and the values never change,’ she said. ‘Personal responsibility is not a 1980s idea.’
Asked how she would characterise herself and Labour leader Mr Burnham after she described Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as a ‘grumpy grandpa’, she said: ‘Andy Burnham is the cheesy uncle. I think he’s the cheesy uncle who does all the dad jokes.
‘And what am I? Someone else has to do that. It’s very difficult… They probably see me, you know, as the no-nonsense mum. No nonsense, probably me.’
Mrs Badenoch, pictured arriving at Tory conference today with husband Hamish, has dropped another big hint at a pledge to slash inheritance tax
Arriving at conference yesterday, Mrs Badenoch was asked how the Tories intended to overturn the poll deficit with both Labour and Reform.
She said: ‘I think that people will see that we have gone on a journey. We’re not the party that the public said no to in 2024. We are a new Conservative Party.
‘I’ve got a strong team. So much of my shadow cabinet are here, and they are going to be showing all the wonderful plans we have to get this country working again.’
The Conservative leader arrived at the conference venue in the centre of Birmingham alongside her husband, Hamish Badenoch, a banker.
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