Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, declared herself a "classic old school Conservative" at her party's annual conference, emphasizing common sense policies and asserting that welfare should serve as a safety net rather than a lifestyle. She presented a 100-page statement outlining her principles and criticized recent government failures for not reversing Labour’s structural changes effectively. Badenoch pledged to cut childcare benefits for higher-income earners and proposed adding 50,000 new prison places by reducing overseas aid spending to £1 billion annually.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, began her party's annual conference in Birmingham by pledging to transform it into a "common sense" party. She highlighted new plans focusing on tightening welfare, expanding prison capacity, and providing free childcare for higher-earning parents. Addressing concerns that these policies harken back to the "nasty party" era, Badenoch asserted that her approach aligns with old-school conservative values emphasizing personal responsibility and rewarding hard work.
Badenoch published a 95-page document titled “The Right Way,” outlining principles for future governance should the Tories win the next election. She referenced Margaret Thatcher's seminal work from 1976, "The Right Approach," noting that it paved the way for her party’s 18-year rule starting in 1979.
Meanwhile, Russell Findlay, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, denounced calls for independence at the conference, warning they pose a significant threat to national security. He criticized SNP First Minister John Swinney's recent summit with Sinn Féin as an act that undermines the UK and aligns Scotland with adversaries like Russia and Iran. Findlay argued such actions make Britain less safe in an already volatile world.
Written for “Tories Conference Badenoch Speeches” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.
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Leaning: leans strongly right for article 55562 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-04
Kemi Badenoch has declared herself a "classic old school Conservative" as she begins her party's annual conference with a string of policy pledges and a 100 page statement on her guiding principles.
asserted
she → declare → principles
external
"I believe in common sense, people working hard and being rewarded for that effort," she told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg.
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she → believe → Kuenssberg
She added that welfare should be a "safety net, not a lifestyle".
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welfare → add → ?
The Tory leader is trying to ensure her party stands out in a crowded political field.
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party → try → field
The Conservatives are trailing Labour and Reform UK in the opinion polls and have yet to recover from their historic defeat at the 2024 general election.
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Conservatives → trail → election
Badenoch, whose personal poll ratings are higher than that of her party, has characterised Reform leader Nigel Farage as a "grumpy grandpa" and she told Laura Kuenssberg that Labour leader Andy Burnham is "the cheesy uncle who does all the dad jokes".
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who → characterise → jokes
She described herself as a "no-nonsense mum".
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She → describe → mum
Asked if her plan for benefit cuts and a massive increase in prison places was a return to the "nasty party" of the past, she said: "It's the common sense party.
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It → ask → past
That's what we're doing.
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we → do → what
And, quite frankly, if we were doing so well the old way, then why did we have such a terrible issue in 2024?"
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we → do → 2024
In her essay The Right Way - a deliberate echo of an essay written by Margaret Thatcher in 1976, external entitled The Right Approach - Badenoch says the last Conservative government failed because it did not know what it stood for.
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it → write → what
Despite the party's rhetoric during its 14 years in power, she said: "We did little to reverse the structural changes Labour had made which took the country in the wrong direction.
"
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which → say → direction
The result was that the state grew by stealth."
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state → grow → stealth
The essay says the "next Conservative government will have one central principle: business, not government, creates growth".
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business → say → growth
The Tories would achieve growth through tax cuts, cutting red tape and reducing the size of the civil service back to pre-pandemic levels, the essay says.
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essay → achieve → levels
And it adds: "What is really missing from politics and government today is people prepared to say no.
"
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missing → add → politics
Political parties now need to recruit those who have the stomach to say no to good causes when the resources simply are not there to do everything."
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resources → need → everything
As their conference gets under way in Birmingham the Conservatives have pledged to end a childcare "cliff edge", which currently means parents earning more than £100,000 do not qualify for the entitlement.
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parents → get → entitlement
The party has also promised to deliver 50,000 new prison places by slashing the overseas aid budget to £1bn a year in a bid to end the early release of offenders.
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party → promise → offenders
Over the 14 years the Conservatives were in power, around 500 net prison places were created, which takes into account 14,142 added in existing and new jails, set against 13,660 lost mainly to dilapidation and closures.
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which → create → dilapidation
Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said the Tory Party "is stuck in the past and remains completely out of touch with what people across Britain want to see".
"
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people → say → Britain
Last week Andy Burnham set out a plan to bring back hope to Britain.
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Burnham → set → Britain
Kemi Badenoch wants to drag our country back to a politics that let so many people down over the past 40 years."
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that → want → years
The Aporia
