On Sunday 2 November, Laura Kuenssberg asked Kemi Badenoch why the Tories are less popular under her leadership. While Badenoch tried to evade the question, she answered it anyway – namely by explaining the Tories are little more than a Reform tribute act now:
“Now people know where we stand”
On the anniversary of her becoming Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch defends her polling and says “opposition is not something you come out of very quickly, the last oppositions lasted 14, 13, 18 years”#BBCLauraK https://t.co/CkTHGctZ4k pic.twitter.com/viwVoVOLgx
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 2, 2025
Nigel Farage’s coat tails
In the video above, Kuenssberg says:
By chance it’s also your anniversary from the day of your taking over as the Conservative leader. Why is your party less popular than when you arrived?
Ouch.
Badenoch responded:
Laura, we’ve had this conversation before.
This is a typically testy response from Badenoch. While we’re sure she doesn’t want to keep answering the same question, the fact is her party keeps becoming less popular. This is how far they’ve slid since January in YouGov polling:
And this is how much Reform have grown:
So that’s 22% to 17% for Badenoch and 24% to 27% for Farage. Crucially, that’s a difference of ten percentage points between the two parties. And other polls look worse for the Tories:
Estimated seat totals:
REF – 418 (+413)
LD – 82 (+10)
SNP – 46 (+37)
LAB – 31 (-380)
GRN – 18 (+14)
CON – 16 (-105)
PLAID – 6 (+2)
Based on @findoutnowUK survey, 29 Oct pic.twitter.com/dAhj6Luo83
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) October 30, 2025
Back to the interview, Badenoch continued:
We know that the Conservative Party suffered a historic defeat. And right now, what we’re seeing is political fragmentation. Lots of people are going to protest parties.
We’ll be frank, it’s ridiculous for Labour or the Tories to call their opponents ‘protest parties’.
When the public voted for Thatcher in 1975, it was because they were sick of Labour. When they voted for Blair in 1997, it was because they were sick of the Tories. When they voted for Cameron in 2010, it was because they were sick of New Labour. When they voted for Starmer in 2024, it was because they were sick of the Tories.
It’s been a long time since either of the legacy parties have resonated with the broader public. As such, people stomach the sitting government for as long as they can, and then they protest.
When it comes to Reform and the Greens, people are taking an interest because these parties are providing an explanation as to why things have gotten so bad. You can disagree with either party as much as you like (and lord knows we disagree with Reform), but calling them a ‘protest vote’ exposes that Badenoch is one of yesterday’s politicians.
The long haul (just not for Kemi Badenoch)
Badenoch continued:
After the first year, I think the landscape is becoming clearer. Opposition is not something that takes time, that you come out of very quickly. The last few oppositions have been 14, 13 and 18 years. What I want to make sure is that people understand what the Conservative Party stands for.
The reason it takes so long for Labour and the Tories to get back in power isn’t because they need time to explain their values; it’s because voters need time to forget how valueless they were in power (unless you count ‘rampant, unfettered privatisation’ as a value, anyway, which we don’t).
Finally, Badenoch explained why the Tories are treading water under her:
We’re the only party that is both credible enough, competent enough and tough enough to do the things that will get a stronger economy and stronger borders. Of course, we’ve made mistakes. I’ve acknowledged those. That’s why I’ve changed the policy policy on various things like net zero to immigration. We’re leaving the Convention on Human Rights. We did everything we could to stop the boats. None of it worked. The legal system kept being used against us. We’ve got to be tougher.
You’ll note these policies are all an attempt to mimic Reform. And this was all so very predictable.
When they were in power, the Tories created a hostile environment for the planet – for human beings – for the law. They claimed this was necessary to keep the country in check, and yet things got worse anyway, because the real problem was always spiralling wealth inequality. This created an opening for an even-further-right party to swoop in and present themselves as the ones who would finally follow through on the migrant problem – on the environment problem – on the lefty lawyers problem.
Badenoch was one of the biggest propaganda merchants in the government, and now she reaping what she sowed.
*SLOW HAND CLAP*
All that aside, congratulations on her first year in charge and out of power.
Here’s to many, many, many more to come.
Featured image via BBC
By Willem Moore
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