Kemi Badenoch hopes to grab attention with policy blitz

The Conservatives have been one of the democratic world’s most successful parties at winning elections.

And yet a party used to standing so tall has shrivelled to Lilliputian levels.

They have rarely, if ever, known a scenario so bleak.

With that backdrop, a leader’s position would always be questioned – and Kemi Badenoch’s has been.

But her speech to the party’s annual conference was a confident performance, arguably her best moment yet as leader, and a fleshing out of her brand of Conservatism.

She appeared relaxed and like she was enjoying herself, which is quite a thing given she would have been feeling the pressure of doing her first closing conference address as Conservative leader.

The Tories spot a niche they hope they can own: to be perceived as wise custodians of the public finances.

Despite the Liz Truss legacy, they have been buoyed by polling suggesting this is a perception they should lean into as a differentiator from Labour and Reform UK.

What I have noticed over the last few days is something of a Darwinian selection among the people who came to the conference in Manchester.

Yes, the numbers were down on where they were last year or when the party was in government, as you would expect.

But those who turned up were up for the fight.

I got chatting to one local party association chairman as activists headed for the station after Badenoch’s speech.

“This gives us something to talk about with voters,” they said with an approving smile, after the blitz of policy announcements in recent days.

As a new leader, Kemi Badenoch did not want to rush into announcing policies.

This was partly out of a belief that you have got to think things through before you announce them.

She likes to distinguish between policies and announcements, claiming her rivals will often make a splash with an idea that hasn’t been properly thought through.

The problem, though, is while all these policies were being worked up, the party didn’t have much to say.

The stand-out new policy in the speech, which the party had managed to keep under wraps until it was delivered from the lectern, was her plan to abolish stamp duty on main home purchases in England and Northern Ireland.

The party sees stamp duty as a particularly bad tax, because it puts people off moving house.

But the key thing here is that yes, the party has given itself something to talk about, but is anyone listening?

Some of the leader’s internal sceptics said they were pleasantly surprised by what they heard.

Kemi Badenoch will hope this buys her some time and some attention.

But in our noisy political ecosystem, neither is guaranteed.