Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives will seek to “turn the tide” on what she described as Andy Burnham’s “destructive socialist agenda”, as the Opposition prepares for its annual conference and attempts to draw clearer dividing lines with both Labour and Reform UK.
In an interview with the Press Association, the Conservative leader accused the Prime Minister of being “obsessed with Westminster bubble politics”. She also criticised plans for electoral reform that could eventually lead to proportional representation, saying they were intended to “lock in the left”.
Mrs Badenoch said the Conservative Party had changed and was offering the “only credible alternative” to Labour. She said the party had new policies, plans and people, while acknowledging that it had learned from previous mistakes.
“The Conservative Party is different,” she said. “We have changed. We have new policies, new plans, new people coming on board.”
She accused Labour of offering policies that would “bankrupt our economy” and attacked Reform UK over what she described as recent problems affecting its politicians and the lack of developed policies beyond cryptocurrency.
Recent polling has put Labour ahead of both the Conservatives and Reform UK. However, a YouGov MRP survey reported the previous week projected a hung parliament and placed the Conservatives ahead of Reform in second place.
Despite the possibility of votes being split on the right, Mrs Badenoch gave what she called a “cast-iron guarantee” that there would be no Conservative pact with Nigel Farage’s party at the next election.
“Yes, I’ve always said it so many times, nothing has changed since the last time I gave that guarantee,” she said. “They are not our kind of people.”
She argued that some voters who would support the Conservatives would be unwilling to do so if the party entered into a pact or deal with Reform.
## Dispute over Britain’s relationship with the EU
Mrs Badenoch also rejected suggestions that the Conservatives might move towards closer integration with the European Union following the appointment of former Remainer Tom Tugendhat as shadow foreign secretary, replacing staunch Brexiteer Dame Priti Patel.
She said the Conservatives had always supported close co-operation with other countries and pointed to her meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. She said Mr Tugendhat had accompanied her in Greece and described the party’s relationships with European countries and the EU as good.
However, she said calls for “closer co-operation” were often insufficiently specific, asking whether they involved giving money to the EU or allowing it to make UK laws. She described much of the debate as “vibes rather than seriousness”.
Mrs Badenoch did not commit to ruling out every possible future change to the UK’s relationship with the EU, including a return to a customs union or single market. Instead, she argued that those discussing such options had failed to account for the terms of the previous negotiations.
“We’re not going to get the same terms that we had,” she said, questioning whether Mr Burnham could secure the rebate associated with Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. She described the debate over rejoining the EU as a distraction and said the priority should be improving the economy.
She defended the existing Trade and Cooperation Agreement negotiated with Brussels under Boris Johnson, describing it as a free trade agreement and “the most comprehensive free trade agreement they have with any country”.
Mrs Badenoch said the UK should focus on lowering energy costs, reducing the tax burden on businesses and helping young people into work. She attributed problems affecting employment to domestic policy, blaming what she called Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer’s “jobs tax”, rather than Britain’s departure from the EU.
She said closer co-operation with all countries should be pursued where it was in the national interest, but stressed that this did not mean rejoining the EU.
## Pensions and party unity
Mr Burnham has announced plans to adjust the pensions triple lock, with the aim of raising £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s to help fund a new national care service.
The Conservatives have criticised the proposal as unfunded. However, senior Conservative figures including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Mr Tugendhat have separately suggested that the current triple lock is unsustainable.
Asked whether the existing guarantee would remain if the Conservatives returned to government, Mrs Badenoch said it was current Conservative policy and included in the draft manifesto.
She said she was confident the party could remain united despite differences over the policy. Mrs Badenoch said her party had previously resolved more difficult disputes, including debates over leaving the Convention on Human Rights and scrapping net-zero legislation.
She identified those issues as among her priorities and argued that the existing approach to net zero was making the UK poorer.
## Electoral reform and an early election
Mrs Badenoch rejected the Prime Minister’s proposals for electoral reform, including the creation of a national commission to examine possible changes to voting rules.
Supporters of proportional representation argue that it would reflect overall vote shares more accurately. Critics say first-past-the-post produces more decisive outcomes, while figures in the two main parties have expressed concerns that proportional representation could give smaller parties greater influence.
Mr Burnham has invited other parties to participate in discussions about his proposals. Mrs Badenoch nevertheless said the issue was disconnected from the concerns she had encountered around the country.
“In all of the places I’ve been to, up and down the country, no one has put their problem down to changing the voting system,” she said. She described electoral reform as a distraction and repeated her claim that it was intended to “lock in the left”.
Mrs Badenoch also disputed Mr Burnham’s suggestion that he was not preparing for an early general election. She pointed to the timing of announcements on social care and electoral reform, which relate to plans extending towards 2030, and questioned why the Prime Minister was discussing measures intended for after an election rather than immediate action.
“I think he’s getting ready for an election, and so am I,” she said.
Her comments come as the Conservatives prepare for their conference in Birmingham and seek to establish a distinct position between the governing Labour Party and Reform UK. While polling continues to show Labour ahead, the YouGov MRP projection cited in the report indicated that the Conservatives could overtake Reform for second place in a projected hung parliament.
