Peter Franklin: The Conservatives must not become a niche party for the old and rich
Peter Franklin discusses the current state of the Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch's leadership. Despite recent electoral setbacks, there is a lack of crisis within the party, which Franklin attributes to the previous leadership's failures. He argues that while Badenoch is making efforts to improve the party, she must address deeper structural issues to regain support.
- ▪The Conservative Party suffered a net loss of 563 councillors and six councils in recent elections.
- ▪In the Welsh Senedd elections, the Conservatives dropped from second to fourth place.
- ▪Franklin uses an allegory of a house in disrepair to illustrate the challenges facing Badenoch as the current leader.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Peter Franklin is an Associate Editor of UnHerd. With all eyes on Labour and the Makerfield by-election, the state of the Conservative Party has been all but ignored by the mainstream media. That suits Kemi Badenoch, because this could have been a tricky time for her. I hate to bring it up, but earlier this month we suffered a net loss of 563 councillors and six councils – including Badenoch’s home turf of Essex. In the Welsh Senedd elections the Conservative group dropped from second to fourth place and in the Scottish Parliament from third to fifth. Yes, there were bright spots too, but disregard the bluster — this was a bad night for us. But to Reform UK’s evident frustration, these setbacks haven’t provoked a renewed crisis of confidence in the Tory ranks — nor in the Tory leader.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at ConservativeHome.
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