{"id":261509,"date":"2025-03-18T16:32:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T16:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/kemi-badenoch-thinks-shes-started-a-journey-a-ruthless-party-may-soon-have-other-ideas\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T16:32:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T16:32:02","slug":"kemi-badenoch-thinks-shes-started-a-journey-a-ruthless-party-may-soon-have-other-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/kemi-badenoch-thinks-shes-started-a-journey-a-ruthless-party-may-soon-have-other-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Kemi Badenoch thinks she’s started a journey – a ruthless party may soon have other ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kemi<\/div>


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The excitement was palpable.<\/p>\n

Billed as the “biggest policy renewal programme in 50 years”; 136 days since becoming Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch’s big policy pitch.<\/p>\n

Politics latest: Billions shaved off welfare bill<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

But don’t expect to be overwhelmed by the detail.<\/p>\n

Today’s headline announcement – that net zero by 2050 is “impossible”<\/a><\/strong> – is the beginning, I’m told, of a journey setting out the direction of travel first, policy meat will come later.<\/p>\n

“A very sensible approach,” a senior Tory tells me before the speech.<\/p>\n

She could certainly push Labour on to uncomfortable territory on climate targets.<\/p>\n

Publicly, her party are rallying – but behind the scenes, it’s not difficult to find Conservative MPs who think she has failed to cut through.<\/p>\n

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n

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\n 2:27<\/span>
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How will Labour respond to Badenoch\u2019s net zero claim?<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Big tests on the horizon<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I think we did expect more by now,” one MP, who backed her for the leadership, tells me.<\/p>\n

Is Mrs Badenoch, like Margaret Thatcher, being underestimated by her colleagues early on in her leadership?<\/p>\n

Or was she overestimated by the party when they elected her leader?<\/p>\n

“I’m not going to pretend I don’t have critics,” Mrs Badenoch tells me.<\/p>\n

“I’m just asking people to listen to what I am saying.”<\/p>\n

What’s interesting is the wider Conservative Party machine seem happier than MPs in parliament.<\/p>\n

Insiders at the Tory HQ tell me MPs are being bogged down by, for example, her performance at PMQs, which doesn’t cut through with the public.<\/p>\n

And it’s not long until we know what is cutting through. The local elections in May (and a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby<\/strong><\/a>) will be Mrs Badenoch’s first big electoral test.<\/p>\n

Read more:
All Labour’s planned welfare reforms<\/a><\/strong>
Headteachers ‘wrong’ if they don’t ban phones<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n


\n \"tom
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\n 1:17<\/span>
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What you can do to reach net zero<\/span>
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Is she dancing to Farage’s tune?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Conservative Party is starting from a high base in the looming local elections – some believe a catastrophic result for Mrs Badenoch could be existential.<\/p>\n

“It’s hard to be leader of the opposition after our worst ever electoral defeat,” Robert Jenrick, the man who nearly beat her<\/a><\/strong>, tells me after the speech.<\/p>\n

He’s not wrong. It’s no exaggeration to say Reform UK is threatening the Conservatives’ chances of ever getting back into government.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Just a few weeks ago, Nigel Farage summoned journalists in central London to row back on climate targets.<\/p>\n

Is the Tory leader playing catch up? Her allies say Reform’s climate policy is ill-thought through – hers will take time.<\/p>\n

Mrs Badenoch will need more time if she is to turn the Tory party’s fortunes around, but a ruthless party is already showing impatience.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The excitement was palpable. Billed as the “biggest policy renewal programme in 50 years”; 136 days since becoming Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch’s big policy pitch. Politics latest: Billions shaved off welfare bill But don’t expect to be overwhelmed by the detail. Today’s headline announcement – that net zero by 2050 is “impossible” – is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/03\/768x432\/skynews-kemi-badenoch-net-zero_6860255.jpg?20250318094653","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[603],"tags":[5539,13992,5070,5538,1697,43738,420,9291,2145],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261511,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261509\/revisions\/261511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}