Kemi Badenoch 'rebuilding' Tory party as she marks first year as leader

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is "rebuilding" the party as she marks her first year in the job.

Ms Badenoch also said she had spent the last 12 months "giving the country a serious alternative to Labour's weakness: a plan for a stronger economy and stronger borders".

The leader, who was elected on 2 November last year when she defeated Robert Jenrick, said on Sunday she was "rebuilding our party, our principles and our plan for Britain".

She came to the helm after a leadership contest, triggered by Rishi Sunak's resignation in the wake of the 2024 general election drubbing.

But despite starting to craft a new Tory policy platform, she has been criticised by anonymous MPs who are disappointed the Conservatives do not appear to be cutting through with voters.

And she has seen some senior party figures defect to Reform UK, including ex-Conservative chairman Jake Berry, former Welsh secretary David Jones, and Tory MP Danny Kruger.

Ms Badenoch also continues to face the challenge of ambitious frontbenchers who appear to be plotting potential future leadership bids, including shadow justice secretary Mr Jenrick.

Despite her insistence that the party is providing a credible alternative to the Labour government, the latest polling from YouGov suggested voters are yet to be convinced by Ms Badenoch, with just 12% believing she is a prime minister in waiting, while 62% do not.

But Ms Badenoch appeared adamant in her approach as she faced down the critics.

She said: "This first year of my leadership has been about rebuilding. Rebuilding our party, our principles and our plan for Britain.

"After defeat in 2024, we faced a choice: retreat into slogans, or rebuild around values. We chose to rebuild.

"The Conservative Party now stands once again for what made Britain strong in the first place - responsibility, fairness, competence and pride in our nation."

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A majority of Conservative members, 54%, do believe she is doing a good job as party leader, while 24% say she has done a bad job, the YouGov survey found.

Pollsters have also suggested the Tories are less popular than the Liberal Democrats, as Nigel Farage's Reform UK continues to lead with the public.

In May, the Conservatives suffered heavy defeats in the local elections, as Ms Badenoch apologised to her party over the result.

In October at her first Conservative party conference as leader, she made the surprise announcement the Tories would scrap stamp duty, a tax paid by house buyers, on the purchase of their main homes.

It gave the Conservatives and their leader a much-needed lift after what many have dubbed the lost year.

But backbench Tories could soon hold Ms Badenoch's future in their hands, as a grace period stopping them from submitting letters expressing no confidence in her expires once her first year in office is complete.

Bob Blackman, who as chairman of the 1922 Committee acts as a conduit for Conservative backbenchers, said he believed Ms Badenoch's slow and steady approach had been the correct one.

However, Labour said that "one year in, Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives have shown themselves incapable of change or learning lessons from the past".

Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: "They crashed the economy, sent mortgages rocketing and left NHS waiting lists at record highs."

(c) Sky News 2025: Kemi Badenoch 'rebuilding' Tory party as she marks first year as leader