Kemi Badenoch last night launched a ‘reset’ of the Conservative Party to get it battle-ready for an election as soon as next year.
In a direct echo of Margaret Thatcher‘s approach in the 1970s, Mrs Badenoch published a major document setting out plans for a return to ‘common sense’ Tory values.
And she mocked Andy Burnham‘s extraordinary claim that defence spending would not come at a cost to those on benefits, telling the Prime Minister there was ‘no social security without national security’.
It came as the Conservatives launched a policy blitz at the start of their conference in Birmingham, including building 50,000 new prison places, expanding entitlement for free childcare – and hinting that inheritance tax could be scrapped.
Mrs Badenoch also insisted the Tories will stick with the pension triple lock, despite some senior figures suggesting they should follow Mr Burnham in ditching it.
Today Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith will outline plans for a new war on red tape, including scrapping the biggest environmental quangos and reforming planning to cut £50,000 off the price of a new home.
Tory high command believes Mr Burnham is gearing up for a snap election within months.
Mrs Badenoch yesterday told activists they will win, despite struggling in the polls, provided they revive an ‘old-school’ Tory approach to key issues such as the economy, law and order and border control.
Kemi Badenoch vowed to reset the Conservatives in preparation for an election as soon as next year
Members of Mrs Badenoch’s Shadow Cabinet applauded their leader’s speech on the opening day of Conservative Party conference in Birmingham
She said the last Tory government had lost its way, resulting in higher taxes, surging immigration and a commitment to Net Zero with no plan to deliver it, adding that only a return to ‘common sense’ Conservatism could rescue Britain from decline.
Publishing a 95-page document called The Right Way, Mrs Badenoch conceded it was even ‘harsher’ on past Tory failings than it was on Labour.
She said this was ‘not because I believe Labour knows any better – quite the opposite. Labour goes wrong when it follows its principles; we go wrong when we fail to follow ours’.
In a series of interviews yesterday, Mrs Badenoch described herself as a ‘classic old-school Conservative’. She branded herself as a ‘no-nonsense mum’, while describing Nigel Farage as a ‘grumpy grandpa’ and Mr Burnham a ‘cheesy uncle’.
She denied her policies were Badenochism, saying: ‘”Kemistry” is what I call it. You put all the ingredients together to get the right formula and to get the right products.’
And she defended plans to take the axe to foreign aid and the bloated benefits budget.
Asked if it risked reviving the Tories’ ‘nasty party’ image, she told the BBC: ‘It’s the Common-Sense Party. That’s what we’re doing. I’m a classic old-school Conservative. I believe in common sense, people working hard and being rewarded for that effort.
‘We look after those who can’t look after themselves. Welfare should be a safety net, not a lifestyle.’
Mrs Badenoch also had a dig at Mr Burnham’s comments last month that national security ‘cannot come at the expense of social security’.
Mrs Badenoch warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham there was no ‘social security without national security’
Delegates queued for fringe events at the ICC Arena as Mrs Badenoch branded her style of Conservatism ‘Kemistry’
The Conservatives have already leapfrogged Labour on defence with a commitment to raising military spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 funded mainly by cuts to welfare.
Mrs Badenoch said defence had to be the first priority of any government and that ‘you cannot have social security without national security’.
‘I’ll be sending the clips of that one to Andy Burnham,’ she said, adding that Labour had fallen into the trap of believing ‘diplomatic prestige is what gives you power’.
‘What these tough countries respect is how many missiles you have, what are your air defences, how many soldiers you’re going to bring if there’s a battle. If you want peace, you have to be ready for war. We don’t want war; we want peace. So let’s get ready.’
Mrs Badenoch compared her new mission statement to The Right Approach, which was published under Mrs 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,’ she told delegates.
Mrs Badenoch holding her pamphlet The Right Way, inspired by the 1976 publication The Right Approach, produced under Margaret Thatcher three years before she entered Downing Street
Mrs Badenoch said Mr Burnham would fail just like Keir Starmer because he had no clear plan based on principles.
‘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.’
Mr Burnham has said he will not call a snap election, saying Britain will next go to the polls in 2029 when Labour’s current mandate expires.
But senior Tories believe Labour is preparing for an early election in the hope of exploiting continuing splits on the Right.
One Tory source told the Mail: ‘It is absolutely clear that Burnham is preparing for a possible election and we have to be ready.’
The new Tory document delivers a harsh verdict on the last Conservative government, with Mrs Badenoch writing: ‘We promised lower immigration without a strategy for delivering it. Net Zero was legislated for before we had an economically feasible route to get there.
‘We left the European Union without the economic plan that should have gone with it.
‘The path to failure was paved with announcements, targets and good intentions.’
