Kemi Badenoch has survived her first Conservative conference as leader, which is an accomplishment of sorts. On every other metric she is failing. She has not given a plausible explanation for her party’s defeat in last year’s election, and without one she has little prospect of recovering lost supporters or recruiting new ones.
When she speaks of the Tories’ past record, her analysis is shallow and disingenuous. When she promises a better future, her prescriptions are outmoded and misguided. On the explanation for her present predicament – dismal poll ratings, a shrinking and demoralised membership, a trickle of defections to Reform UK that might yet become a flood – she is silent.
