Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Conference Re-brands the Party as “Nasty”

At the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, party leader Kemi Badenoch framed the Tories as a “nasty party” in a deliberate attempt to distance the party from recent electoral setbacks. In a televised interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch rejected the label, preferring to describe the party as “commonsense,” while simultaneously outlining a series of hard-line policies: a pledge to build 50,000 new prison places, a proposal to cut overseas aid to fund those prisons, and a plan to give unlimited free childcare only to families earning more than £100,000 a year. She also promised to retain the pension triple-lock despite internal warnings about its affordability.

The Guardian

The “nasty party” phrase originated in 2002 when then-Conservative chair Theresa May warned against a punitive voter-targeting strategy. Subsequent leaders, notably David Cameron, moved the party toward the centre. Badenoch’s ascent to the leadership two years ago has revived the rhetoric, positioning the party as a stark alternative to what she describes as a culture of “getting something for nothing” among the “physically and mentally ill” and other welfare recipients.

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• The party remains four points behind the governing Labour Party in the latest polls, a decline from the 24 % vote share recorded in the 2024 general election to just just over 20 % according to political analyst Tim Bale.

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• Badenoch’s personal net favourability with YouGov has risen by 20 points but stays at -15.

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• The conference attracted a noticeably low attendance, with the main hall “not full” and the overall atmosphere described as “quiet” despite a reported “better and unified” mood among MPs.

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• Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, announced a personal “four-day” initiative to make Birmingham “crime-free,” positioning himself as a “one-man vigilante force.”

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• Robert Jenrick, former shadow justice secretary, was accused of “amplifying toxic nationalism” after a comment about “not seeing another white face” in Birmingham; he later defected to Reform UK.

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• Prosper UK, a centrist grouping co-founded by former West Midlands mayor Andy Street and ex-Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, urged Badenoch to address “politically homeless” moderate Tories, warning that the party has lost touch with voters in the home counties for at least a decade.

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• David Gauke, vice-chair of Prosper UK, argued that without winning back seats in Oxfordshire, Surrey and other home-county constituencies, the Conservatives have “no route to a majority.”

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• The conference narrative presents a unified front, yet multiple sources describe a “quiet” venue and low attendance, suggesting a disconnect between the party’s public optimism and internal morale.

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• “Is this a return to the nasty party?” — Laura Kuenssberg, interviewing Kemi Badenoch.

The Guardian