Kemi Badenoch speech live: Leader proposes tax cuts as new poll shows drop in support for Conservatives

A surge in support for Nigel Farage’s party threatens to overshadow Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s tax-cutting conference closing speech.

New polling by More in Common shows backing for the Tories has dropped one point this week to 21 per cent, while Reform UK is up three to 24 per cent.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham’s Labour continues to top the poll, up two to 29 per cent with a five-point lead over Reform.

The leader of the opposition will say there is a “battle for the soul of the nation” in her speech on Wednesday as she is widely expected to announce a proposed cut to the 40 per cent rate of inheritance tax.

Ms Badenoch will warn “something is going to break” without better growth under the Tories as she accuses Andy Burnham’s Labour of presiding over a “tax doom loop that is making us all poorer”.

Ms Badenoch will hope the speech revives the electoral hopes of her party, which trails both Labour and Reform UK in opinion polls.

She said on Tuesday if there was a hung parliament at the next election, she would rather fight two general elections in quick succession than form a coalition with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Tories would 'root out cancer' of diversity ideology

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy has said “Labour’s ideology” on diversity has led to people being killed in stabbings in Southport and Nottingham.

In a speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Timothy said the issue was a “cancer” that the Tories would “root out” if they return to government.

He said it had led to the Southport killings by Axel Rudakubana and those in Nottingham by Valdo Calocane.

Mr Timothy said: “So many parts of government are corrupted by radical identity politics and a deference to clan culture.

“We can no longer trust our institutions to work for us all, to uphold the principle that justice is blind, that we’re all equal before the law.”

He added: “The faces may change, but the policies live on because this is Labour’s ideology. An ideology with serious consequences in the real world: the Southport killer, Axel Rudakubana, Henry Nowak’s killer, Vikram Digwa, the Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane.

“With each of their terrible crimes and many more like them, the failures of the state run deep. A desire to be representative and inclusive has warped and manipulated and led to failure, suffering and injustice.

“This is a cancer and the next Conservative government will root it out.”

Sian Elvin7 October 2026 11:02

Meet Tory chair’s ‘far right’ black labrador

The surprise star of the Tory conference has just been introduced to the press pack in Birmingham – Zuzu, the two-year-old female black labrador, which belongs to Tory chair Kevin Hollinrake.

Zuzu regularly turns up at Conservative headquarters in London and is a popular member of the team, according to the press officers.

But she has become a star at this conference because of the comments made by Labour’s rural minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, who described a Britain of warm ale, black Labradors and country pubs as a “far-right nostalgic vision”.

The comment was widely attacked, not least by Tory conference surprise guest Jeremy Clarkson, and a pub in Suffolk has been handing out free pints to black labrador owners.

David Maddox7 October 2026 10:55

Kemi Badenoch displays Tory team dynamic in contrast to the 'cult of Burnham'

There was a marked difference between the opening video ahead of the leader’s speech at Tory conference compared to Labour.

Before Andy Burnham took to the stage in Liverpool, there was an upbeat video showing his achievements as a politician. Notably, it was almost exclusively images of him on the screen.

At the Conservative Party Conference, however, Kemi Badenoch seemed much happier to share the spotlight. The opening video was very much a display of a team dynamic, showing all of the key players and shadow cabinet ministers involved in the party’s mission.

The discrepancy is unsurprising, though, given Ms Badenoch has always struggled with her personal appeal – something Mr Burnham has rarely had a problem with.

Millie Cooke7 October 2026 10:44

Surge in support for Reform overshadows Kemi Badenoch’s big speech

After a lacklustre conference for the Tories in Birmingham a new poll seems to suggest that the public remain unimpressed with what the party has to offer.

As Kemi Badenoch prepares to give her big speech, a survey by More in Common has shown that her party’s support has dropped one point this week to 21 per cent while Nigel Farage’s Reform is up three to 24 per cent.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham’s Labour continues to top the poll, up two to 29 per cent with a five-point lead over Reform UK.

The findings come in a week where the Tories this week promised an iron shield to protect the UK, to slash regulation and focus tax and welfare support on the better off.

But More in Common pointed out that most of the fieldwork was done before the conference, so Ms Badenoch will be hoping for a bounce next week from her conference.

More in Common director Luke Tryl said: “Labour has hit their highest since Burnham became PM, and are now more than ten points higher than their trough under Keir Starmer. Burnham is squeezing the left, as the Liberal Democrats also fall to their joint lowest this parliament.”

David Maddox7 October 2026 10:28

Kevin Hollinrake's dog gets a standing ovation

Kevin Hollinrake brought his black Labrador – which has become infamous in Tory marketing – out onto the stage as he delivered his main stage speech at Tory conference.

As the dog arrived on the Symphony Hall main stage, Mr Hollinrake sipped a pint as the crowd gave the pair of them a standing ovation.

Millie Cooke7 October 2026 10:22

Blair says Labour should not go into coalition with Greens

Tony Blair has warned Andy Burnham not to do any kind of coalition deal with the Greens after the party was widely condemned for voting to adopt a policy defining Zionism as racism.

The former Labour prime minister hit out at Zack Polanski’s party, saying they had “crossed a line. A dangerous line”.

The move effectively “branded the majority of the (UK’s) Jews racists” at the same time as “they harm the Palestinian cause—the very cause they say they support”, he said.

Sian Elvin7 October 2026 10:15

Watch: Kemi Badenoch to consider cutting inheritance tax

Sian Elvin7 October 2026 10:10

Margaret Thatcher comparison to be made

With senior Tories comparing the moment to 50 years ago when Margaret Thatcher took power during a failing Labour government, Kemi Badenoch will use her speech to hark back to the reforms of the 1980s, comparing them to those of Andy Burnham, who she says plans to take Britain back to the 1970s.

She will say: “On one side we have a government that wants to wind back the clock to failed ideas of the past. They believe economic growth is created by politicians. They think government knows best.

“They think that your income, your pension and your savings are theirs to take and then hand out as they see fit. They claim that what they are doing is compassionate but we know that these ideas will make every single person in this country poorer.”

She warned: “Your taxes will be higher. Your bills will go up. You will find it harder and harder to make ends meet.”

And mocking the prime minister’s campaigning style of social media videos, she will add: “Just because these ideas are delivered on TikTok doesn’t make them any less dangerous than they have always been.”

Sian Elvin7 October 2026 09:48

Kemi Badenoch issues warning to Tory MPs

Kemi Badenoch issued a warning to wavering Tory MPs, insisting that anyone who defects to Reform UK will not be allowed back into her party.

While the Tory leader said she wants “Reform voters to come back to us”, she said the MPs “who left our party… are people who just cause problems”.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Badenoch said: "I want Reform voters to come back to us. The people in Reform as politicians, the MPs, especially the ones who left our party, they are people who just cause problems.

“Their conference… it was overshadowed by an exposé and scandals. You know, they deny it, but they keep having these problems.

"Their leader in Wales had to step down after being arrested. The one before him is in prison for taking bribes from Russia. I don't want to do a deal with those types of people. I want Reform voters to come back to us, back to the Conservative Party.”

Sian Elvin7 October 2026 09:29

How Reform will attempt to oust the Tory leader

Reform UK will try to oust Kemi Badenoch by using a US-style primary to find its candidate to fight her Essex seat at the next general election.

Every resident of North West Essex constituency will have the chance to choose who stands for Nigel Farage’s party, even if they are not a member.

In what is already expected to be a hotly contested constituency, Reform hopes the move – which emerged on the eve of Ms Badenoch’s speech to her party conference in Birmingham – will help them build support for their pick.

The final choice will be made through a vote at a public event hosted by Mr Farage.

Open primaries are held in a number of US states and allow voters to take part in the selection of Democrat and Republican candidates even if they are not party members.