The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Opposition, on 11 May 2026.
It’s rare for political parties to say something nice about their opponents. I doubt the favour will be returned, but I can say that Reform had a good set of local election results, although not as good as they had hoped. They threw the kitchen sink at it, yet went backwards while we went forwards from last year’s locals.
Conservatives had some good successes. No one had expected us to win back Westminster, or hold on in places like Bexley, Broxbourne and Fareham. So, there is everything to play for, but we are rebuilding from a low base and there is a long road ahead.
The alleged attempted murders in Golders Green cast a shadow over this election. People can see the fragmentation, not just in our politics as voters retreat into tribes, but in the importation of foreign conflicts, grievances and values into British public life.
It is because we are sticking to our values – on integration, on the economy, on our national security – that the green shoots of Conservative recovery are starting to be seen.
Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, East and West Sussex, however, were painful losses. Voters who were still sceptical about us and loathe Labour had a free hit voting Reform, knowing the county councils will be abolished next year. Trust, easily lost, is harder to regain, and former Conservative voters in those places were entitled to send us a message.
In the areas where voters wanted to register anger, Reform was often the vehicle. But where they wanted something protected, fixed or delivered, they looked again at the Conservatives.
Just look at Harlow. Reform expected to take all 11 seats. They got zero. In Bromley, Conservative defectors who had gone to Reform even lost their seats. Why? Because these Conservative councils have visibly delivered, investing in the town centre and keeping council tax low.
This was the same message I heard everywhere I went across the country, from Aberdeen to the Solent. Where voters wanted practical solutions and delivery, not just angry protest, where local Conservatives had clear plans and a record of work, Reform looked like wreckers rather than people who could run things, and voters chose the serious governing option.
This is now our way ahead: be a proper Conservative Party. Do not talk Right while governing Left. Be competent and show delivery and we will earn back your trust.
Reform boasted that May 7 would be the day they killed off the Conservative Party and we’d cease to be a national party. Hubris.
The figures tell the real story. Last local elections, Reform was on 32 per cent support nationally and the Conservatives on just 18 per cent. This year, we rose to 20 per cent and second place nationally, while Reform fell back to 27 per cent. It is still a difficult position for us, but while Reform may be ahead, they are going backwards and we are marching forwards.
Reform said at the start of the year that they intended to empty their bank accounts, and it certainly looks as if they did. A blizzard of expensive letters and leaflets, postcode lottery giveaways to Reform party members and other gimmicks have likely burned through £7m-£8m on these elections.
That’s about ten times what most parties would have spent. If they need to spray that much money at local elections and still fall back, why would anyone trust them to be careful with taxpayers’ money?
Conservatives have been careful with our members’ money and our donors’ money, because we know every pound matters.
The next election will not be decided by who can sound angriest. Reform has the same diagnosis on issues like immigration as the Conservatives. But on the economy, welfare, defence, education and health, they still haven’t quite worked out what they think or what to do. Britain does not need a louder opposition. It needs a serious government.
That is why those on the Right tempted by Reform should be clear-eyed. Reform is not a conservative party in the usual sense. It is not offering coherent centre-Right government, rooted in fiscal responsibility, strong institutions, personal freedom and clear plans.
Reform promises different things to different voters. This election, they have won more Left-wing votes from Labour than Right-wing votes from the Conservatives. We should all ask which voters they will choose if they get into government?
The Conservative Party is in the business of providing solutions. We know where we went wrong and we are not just demanding trust back as if the last 14 years did not happen.
But anger alone will not secure the borders, grow the economy, reduce bills, protect green spaces, fix welfare, back business or rebuild trust in government. That takes serious people, serious plans and the discipline to deliver them.
It’s why, despite the setbacks, I am encouraged by our results this week. The Conservative Party is rebuilding steadily, seriously and with purpose. We are not asking people to forget the past but to judge us by what we do next.