Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has insisted she will not be rushed into policy positions, claiming there is no “quick fix” following the party’s defeat in July’s general election.
Badenoch became the party’s sixth leader in less than nine years when she was elected at the start of November.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said the public “kicked out” the Conservatives because the party was not trusted and did not deliver, adding building trust is “something that takes a while”.
Badenoch also dismissed concerns that her approach of not pinning down policy positions could leave a vacuum that might be filled by Reform UK.
Speaking to Amol Rajan, Badenoch said: “Reform is saying stuff because it hasn’t thought it all through. You can give easy answers if you haven’t thought it all through.
“I do the thinking and what people are going to get with new leadership under me is thoughtful Conservatism, not knee-jerk analysis.”
“We are about what we are for, not just what we are against,” she said earlier in the interview.
Badenoch said she would not “rush out” policy positions within six weeks and people would need to be “patient”, but that she wanted to ensure people could believe she was telling the truth so she could earn their trust.
In response, Reform leader Nigel Farage said the Conservative leader “doesn’t understand that the level of betrayal means that the Tory brand is broken. She personally bears heavy responsibility for this”.
During the leadership contest, Badenoch deliberately avoided specific policy positions, focusing instead on Conservative “principles”.
But some in the party – including Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen – have warned against leaving a void on key issues such as migration that could be filled by Reform.
Houchen told the BBC this month there was a “big opportunity” for the Tories because Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had “left the field” on the issue of migration, and called for the party to put forward a “sensible narrative”.
‘Let people down’
In the interview, Badenoch acknowledged again that her party had “let people down” in the area of migration.
She said the numbers were too high, having previously pledged to put a cap on arrivals into the UK – though she has not specified what level she would consider acceptable.
Net migration hit a record in the year to June 2023 – with the difference between those arriving in the UK and leaving standing at 906,000 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The net figure dropped to 728,000 in the year to June 2024.
The previous Conservative government’s key migration policy was the Rwanda deportation scheme designed specifically to deter small boat crossings.
No flights were able to take off to the east African country before July’s election after numerous legal challenges, and Labour swiftly scrapped the scheme after winning power.
The new government has focused on tackling the criminal gangs involved in people smuggling, with Sir Keir announcing an extra £75m to go to policing UK borders in November.
At a press conference last month, Badenoch said the Conservatives still believed a “deterrent” was necessary but did not commit to a revival of the Rwanda scheme.
In the Today interview, Badenoch also acknowledged the local elections scheduled for May next year would be difficult for her party, but said it was a marathon not a sprint.
She said: “The Conservative Party is under changed leadership and I think that the voters will start to see that, but it’s going to be slow and steady. It’s the tortoise strategy, not the hare.”
Musk ‘challenge’
Farage told the BBC last week that Reform was in “open negotiations” with US billionaire Elon Musk about donations to the party.
Mr Musk will hold a role within the US government from January with President-elect Donald Trump appointing him as lead for the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
Asked whether she was concerned about the prospect of Mr Musk donating to Reform, Badenoch downplayed the possibility it would happen but said she “believes in competition”.
She said: “So I think that if Elon Musk is giving a party, a competitor party money, then that is a challenge for me to make sure that I raise the same.”
She said it might be “counterproductive” for Reform, claiming people in the UK “don’t necessarily like to see politics being bought”.
