Conservatives aim to be election-ready ahead of party conference
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is preparing for the party's annual conference with a focus on economic policy and welfare reform. The party aims to regain electoral momentum following a significant defeat and ongoing competition from Reform UK.
Why it matters
The conference serves as a critical test for the Conservative Party's strategy to rebuild its image and challenge the current Labour government.
Image source, PA Media Image caption, Leader Kemi Badenoch will focus on the economy at her party's annual conference
When Kemi Badenoch arrived for her first Conservative conference as leader last year, a member of her entourage overheard somebody wonder aloud: "Who's that?"
This baffled member of the public was actually working at the Conservative conference. Badenoch had been the party's leader and the leader of the opposition for almost a year.
It is an anecdote which underlines the scale of the challenge Badenoch faced at that conference, an event her allies are now with distance willing to acknowledge was make or break for her leadership.
And it is an anecdote which also underlines that, far from break her, that conference represented the start of a major turnaround for Badenoch.
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