Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, addressed party members in Birmingham, promising tax cuts including changes to inheritance tax laws that would exempt family homes from taxation. She positioned the next election as a battle between her party's belief in low taxes and Labour’s proposed higher spending policies. Badenoch also criticized Reform UK, urging their supporters to return to the Conservative Party. In her speech, she defended racial identity and condemned antisemitic rhetoric from other political parties.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
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 delivered a keynote address at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on October 7, framing the upcoming election as a "battle for the soul of this nation." The Tories are positioning themselves against Labour's proposed tax-and-spend policies, which they argue will lead to higher taxes and increased bills for citizens. Badenoch pledged significant tax cuts, including halving employer national insurance contributions for workers aged 21-24, scrapping a property tax on homes worth over £2 million, and changing inheritance tax laws so no one pays it on their family home.
Badenoch said the number of families paying death duties would fall by half due to her proposed changes. She warned that Britain is "running out of money and running out of time" as Western economies become more fragile, emphasizing a need for fiscal responsibility. The Conservative leader sought to draw a clear ideological line with Labour, led by Andy Burnham, who has pledged to reverse Baroness Thatcher’s ban on public ownership of water companies.
Badenoch's speech outlined a plan to reduce the national debt and protect families’ assets through tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth. She also criticized Reform UK as a "circular firing squad" and urged voters who had left the Tories to return to their party for the next election.
Written for “Battle for Britain's Soul” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 10 other(s) covering the same event.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has delivered her keynote address to Tory members at their party conference in Birmingham, promising tax cuts and a clear political ideology underpinning her policy platform.
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Badenoch → deliver → platform
– Inheritance tax
The Conservative leader left her big announcement for the end of her speech, telling Tory members that she planned to change the law so that no-one pays inheritance tax on their family home.
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one → leave → home
In another step aimed at protecting families’ assets, the Tory leader said couples would be able to leave an additional £1 million tax free to their families.
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couples → aim → families
Together the changes mean that the number of families paying death duties will fall by half, Mrs Badenoch said.
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Badenoch → mean → half
– The Battle with Labour
The Conservative leader framed the next election as a “battle for the soul of this nation, a battle of ideas”.
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leader → frame → ideas
Labour wants to tax and spend, she said, and warned: “Your taxes will be higher.
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taxes → want → ?
Your bills will go up.
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bills → go → ?
You will find it harder and harder to make ends meet”.
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ends → find → ?
The Tories meanwhile are “fighting again for the belief that what people earn belongs to them”.
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earn → fight → them
She also hit out at the “circular firing squad” of Reform UK, and urged voters who had left the Tories to back Nigel Farage’s political outfit to come back.
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who → hit → outfit
Reform voters deserve better, she said, adding: “Many of them are our people.
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Many → deserve → them
We let them down and we want them to come back home.”
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them → let → them
– Mistakes of the past
The Tories are a “no drama party” now she said, adding that the “plots and infighting” of the previous government are gone.
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plots → say → government
“We are the no nonsense party,” the Conservative leader added.
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leader → add → ?
She later compared the Tories to the retailer M&S, as she suggested the party had undergone a rebrand after once being perceived as “stuffy”.
“Just like M&S we must learn from our mistakes, win back trust, and make people feel good about our party again,” she added.
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she → compare → party
– Race and identity
Mrs Badenoch hit out at suggestions by Reform UK’s Suella Braverman that non-white people brought up in England cannot be considered English.
Read More
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people → hit → More
She said: “We must not let these people take us backwards.
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people → say → us
“Reform MPs are openly questioning people’s identity.
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MPs → question → identity
The Green Party meanwhile came under fire for its party conference vote to endorse the position that Zionism is Racism.
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Zionism → come → position
Mrs Badenoch described the motion as “disgraceful antisemitism”, and on the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks insisted the Conservatives would stand with the Jewish people.
– The national debt
The country is “running out of money and running out of time” to fix its problems, as the world becomes more dangerous and Western economies become “more fragile”, Mrs Badenoch said, as she turned towards her proposals to solve Britain’s challenges.
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she → describe → challenges
The national debt is the source of all of Britain’s problems, she suggested.
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she → suggest → problems
– Economic growth
The Tory leader urged the Government to “stop faffing about” and build the third runway at Heathrow Airport, and called for a swathe of planning and tax red tape, including the Aarhus Convention, to be axed to stimulate growth.
She also defended plans to continue drilling for fossil fuels in the North Sea to sustain Aberdeen’s economy.
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She → urge → economy
– Restraints on business
Mrs Badenoch promised to scrap “every job-killing measure” in Labour’s Employment Rights Act, and to cut the “jobs tax” of employer National Insurance Contributions, as a means of easing pressure on businesses and making it easier to hire young people.
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it → promise → people
– Welfare
On welfare, she spoke of the Tories’ plans for a pre-paid Back to Work card, which would prevent benefits claimants from using their payments to buy alcohol and cigarettes, and from gambling, while allowing them to purchase essentials.
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them → speak → essentials
She also spoke about the Tories plans for a “Get to Work” programme, which would place young people straight out of school or university into work, rather than on out-of-work benefits.
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which → speak → benefits
– Defence
On defence, she insisted the Tories had a plan worked out for how to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
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Tories → insist → 2030
“If we want peace we must prepare for war,” Mrs Badenoch said, suggesting her party’s plans for a “Britannia Shield” missile defence system was an example of how the Conservatives were ready.
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Conservatives → want → system
– More prison places
The Tory leader promised to build 50,000 extra prison places if her party returns to power.
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party → promise → power
She hit out at the early prison release scheme, and said the unrest earlier this year in Middlesbrough – which led to the deaths of two police officers – was a result of “a collapse in consequences” for criminals.
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which → hit → criminals
“We need to make sure that criminals face the full force of the law,” Mrs Badenoch said.
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Badenoch → need → law
Public sector workers are not the enemy, Mrs Badenoch said.
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Badenoch → say → ?
“There are real jobs in the public sector adding value to society,” she insisted, and said doctors, teachers and soldiers were among those who had been let down by a system which “tries to stop them using their common sense”.
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which → be → sense
The Aporia
