A Difficult Night for the Tories Leaves Badenoch’s Strategy in Question
The Conservative Party faced a punishing set of local election results, with only a handful of silver linings. Notably, they managed to win the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral race against Labour—one of the few bright spots in an otherwise grim picture.
Even Party Leader Kemi Badenoch acknowledged the scale of the challenge, describing it on Friday as “a very difficult set of elections.”
These disappointing outcomes did not come as a surprise to many within the Conservative ranks. MPs had been bracing for a poor showing, with the party consistently trailing both Labour and Reform in recent polls. What made the setback even more severe is that the Tories had the most to lose—Thursday’s 1,641 contested seats were last up for election in 2021, during a peak in popularity for then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
However, the extent of the defeat has rattled the party, triggering fresh doubts about Badenoch’s strategy to revive Conservative fortunes.
“It’s all pretty dire for [Badenoch], frankly,” said one senior Conservative figure, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “People are not really sure what she stands for—and that’s the problem.”
Is Worse Still to Come?
Supporters of Badenoch argue that the party’s prolonged time in government has left a heavy burden. After 14 years in power—and with a legacy of record migration, economic instability, and constant political drama—they say the public has every reason to be skeptical.
As one Conservative official summarized: “It’s not surprising that, less than a year into new leadership, we still have a lot of work to do to show voters the party is truly changing.”
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