Thursday, April 24, 2025
Throwing in the towel
The paper says that the Conservative leader has warned Tory supporters to brace for a “very difficult” set of results for the party as voters go to the polls next Thursday, adding that Badenoch is leading the Tories into the local elections against a high watermark set by Boris Johnson at the peak of his popularity in 2021.
And, setting expectations low for her first electoral test as leader of the Conservatives, Ms Badenoch told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We lost last year in a historic defeat - these elections are going to be very difficult for Conservatives.
"Two-thirds of the seats four years ago we won - there's no way we are going to be able to do that again."
She added: "Protest is in the air - protest parties are doing well at the moment.
"It's really important that we take time to get things right - rebuild trust with the public and have a credible offer.
"I'm not saying everything we did was correct - that's why we've seen support for other parties."
The Liberal Democrats said Ms Badenoch has “thrown in the towel before a single vote has been counted in next week's local elections”.
Daisy Cooper said Kemi Badenoch doesn’t have a positive message for voters.
Deputy leader Daisy Cooper added: “The Conservative Party doesn't have any answers on the big issues facing the country, because their fingerprints of failure are all over them.
"The Conservatives trashed the NHS, blew a hole in the public finances and allowed water companies to commit an environmental catastrophe with sewage dumping.
"It's up to the public to decide what issues they will be voting on at these elections, and many will be voting to deliver another message to the Conservatives on the mess in which they’ve left the country and local services."
In just over a week we'll see what actually happens.
