Kemi Badenoch
other
Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch is a British politician who has been serving as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024. Badenoch previously worked in the Cabinet for prime ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2024. She was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Essex, previously Saffron Walden, in 2017.
Standing...
Stories...
Oct 10, 2026
Lean Right
She is leading the Conservative response to the Budget and trying to define her leadership against a resurgent Reform UK.
Tories are watching closely to see if she can unite the right and offer a credible alternative to Labour's tax-and-spend policies.
Oct 10, 2026
Center
Conservative leader reacting to policing and Northern Ireland stories.
Lib Dems will attack Badenoch for offering no fresh solutions and for a party record that left public services weakened.
Oct 10, 2026
Lean Right
The new Conservative leader is setting out her opposition strategy and shadow cabinet appointments.
Conservatives are watching to see if Badenoch can unite the party, take the fight to Labour, and see off the Reform UK threat.
Oct 10, 2026
Center
The Conservative leader is absent from the day's biggest stories, which touch on royal finances and football regulation rather than her preferred terrain.
Lib Dems will use her silence on the Andrew payout to argue the Tories still protect establishment figures, a useful attack line in Blue Wall contests.
Oct 9, 2026
Far Right
Badenoch has set out her plans for the country in her party conference speech, positioning herself against the new PM.
Reform UK views Badenoch as the continuity Tory candidate whose party broke Britain's borders and taxes, and whose conference rhetoric will not win back voters who have already switched.
Oct 8, 2026
Lean Right
Badenoch is under pressure to define her leadership with a series of speeches and policy reviews on immigration and net zero.
Conservatives praise her for taking on woke ideology but worry she hasn't yet cut through with a cohesive economic message to counter Labour.
Oct 8, 2026
Center
The Conservative leader is under pressure to respond to the Boots sale and the broader sell-off of British brands.
Lib Dems point out that it was a Conservative government that waved through so many foreign takeovers of UK firms.
Oct 8, 2026
Lean Left
Delivering her Tory conference speech with a warning that a 'fight is coming' over spending and calling Reform UK 'drama queens'.
Labour will seize on her austerity-tinged rhetoric as proof the Tories are doubling down on cuts, not credible opposition.
Oct 8, 2026
Far Left
She told Tory conference there is a 'fight coming' over public spending and mocked Keir Starmer's downfall.
Badenoch is positioning the Tories as the party of fiscal discipline, which from the left means she is gearing up to defend wealth and attack public services.
Oct 7, 2026
Lean Right
The Conservative leader has come under fire from her own MPs after she publicly rejected any electoral pact with Reform UK, sparking a fresh round of party infighting.
Conservatives are split: some praise her for holding the line against a merger, but many on the right accuse her of handing Labour a landslide by splitting the vote.