3 min read
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will say she is “deeply sorry” for her party’s heavy local election losses in a letter to candidates seen by PoliticsHome.
The letter is due to be sent out to all Conservative candidates that stood for election on 1 May, PoliticsHome understands.
“I’m deeply sorry to see so many excellent, hard-working Conservative councillors lose their seats. They didn’t deserve it — and they weren’t the reason we lost”, the Leader of the Opposition is planning to write.
The Conservatives lost 676 seats at last week’s elections, with most of the damage being done by Reform UK. In some councils the Tories were essentially replaced by Nigel Farage’s party.
Badenoch is set to admit that the party is now under attack from four sides as the Tory voter coalition continues to splinter.
“Not only are Reform and the Greens challenging in former Labour heartlands, but the Liberal Democrats are a threat in the blue wall,” she says in the letter seen by PoliticsHome.
Badenoch in her letter says the party has been “tarnished” by the actions of previous Conservative governments, adding: “It’s not surprising that trust has been eroded.”
The Tory leader is planning to tell local candidates that voters have been “let down” on immigration, saying it was a key reason for the party’s losses to Farage’s Reform UK.
“The rise of Reform is a clear reminder that voters are not ready to come back to us after our time in government. I’ve previously acknowledged areas where we let them down, most notably immigration.”
Looking ahead to the next set of local elections as well as polls in Scotland and Wales in 2026, she is set to say the party “must be smarter and more focused,” adding: “There is no time to waste”.
In a plea to activists, Badenoch is expected to say: “I cannot do this alone. Together with Conservative MPs in Parliament and Conservative councillors, we will energetically fight this disastrous Labour government, and show voters what we stand for and how we can deliver.
“Even in better times, defending the strong 2021 result would have been a tough ask.”
The Conservative leader goes on to insist her party is “not alone”, pointing to recent election losses in Canada and Australia, where centre right leaders were defeated.
On Tuesday night, Badenoch hosted Tory MPs for drinks to thank them for their work during the local election campaign.
One attendee told PoliticsHome that Badenoch’s speech “got the tone right” and that she told MPs she was “sorry for the situation” facing the party.
On Wednesday evening, Conservative MPs gathered in Parliament for the first meeting of the party’s 1922 Committee Since last week’s local elections, where chairman Nigel Huddleston spoke.
