Kemi Badenoch and the Tories can end 2025 with renewed hope in battle with Labour and Reform: The Yorkshire Post says
While Tory party chairman and Yorkshire MP Kevin Hollinrake may believe Kemi Badenoch is the best person to run the country, it is fair to say the rest of the nation still requires some convincing.
The party’s crushing defeat in the 2024 General Election may have been swiftly followed by a stuttering start by the Labour Government but to date the beneficiaries at disenchantment with Keir Starmer have been Nigel Farage’s Reform party. Several former Conservative MPs have defected to Reform and the Tories are anticipating poor results in the May local elections.
But there is a long way left to go until the next General Election and there is an undoubted opportunity for the Tories to make the case that voters should give them another chance in Government.
They can point to both Labour’s manifesto pledges of £8.5bn worth of tax rises being superseded by the reality of £66bn increases in their first 18 months in office as well as the very legitimate question marks around the economic competence of Reform and the controversies that have dogged many of the party’s political representatives.
Local elections are one thing but when it comes to the crunch of who will run the country, voters may hesistate before backing Reform.
Mr Hollinrake says that Ms Badenoch’s “authentic” and “direct” approach chimes well with people in Yorkshire.
Regular viewers of Prime Minister’s Questions will have seen her perform in an increasingly accomplished manner in recent months while her punchy response to the latest Budget went viral. Subsequent polling has not only given her a small bounce in personal popularity but contributed to the Tories now being seen as best party to run the economy.
The challenge of translating minor green shoots into actual votes will be a huge one but the party’s position appears more positive than it did just a few months ago.