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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
David Maddox

The inside story of how Kemi Badenoch masterminded a Tory heist in the ‘forgotten’ by-election

As three by-elections approached this week – one in Makerfield in Greater Manchester, and two in Scotland – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s top team faced a problem: how should they translate the growing popularity of their leader into electoral success?

She desperately needed a victory to show that it is her party, and not the insurgent Reform UK, that is the real alternative to Labour.

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