Chris Mason: Tories united behind Badenoch - but party still needs to win over voters
Kemi Badenoch has consolidated her leadership of the Conservative Party, with the party showing newfound unity at their annual conference. She used the event to announce a controversial plan to scrap inheritance tax, a move aimed at appealing to voters despite criticism from political opponents.
Why it matters
The Conservative Party's shift toward populist tax policies signals a strategic attempt to regain electoral relevance and differentiate themselves from rivals like Reform UK.
Image source, PA Media By Chris Mason Political editor Published 14 minutes ago It is Kemi Badenoch's Conservative Party now.
Implicitly and explicitly, that was the message from the Tories' annual conference, which has wrapped up in Birmingham.
It is a party very much united around her, with no murmurings of dissent about her leadership, which is quite the contrast from a year ago.
The pivot point in her time as Conservative leader so far came in her address to this same gathering 12 months back, when, amid constant chatter about the prospect of Robert Jenrick seeking to topple her, she won over the party faithful with an address that oozed confidence.
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