Badenoch admits Tory migration failures

Of all the issues which did it for the Conservatives in July 2024, no issue deterred life-long Tories more than the failure to control migration. So it was appropriate then that this subject formed the basis of Kemi Badenoch’s first major policy speech since her election as leader. Ahead of tomorrow’s release of migration statistics, she chose to deliver a mea culpa on behalf of her party, admitting at a hastily-assembled press conference that the Conservatives had previously got this issue wrong. The last administration ‘promised to bring numbers down,’ she said. ‘We did not deliver that promise’:

As the new party leader I want to acknowledge that we made mistakes. Yes, some of these problems are long standing – this is a collective failure of political leaders from all parties over decades – but on behalf of the Conservative party it is right that I as the new leader accept responsibility, and say truthfully we got this wrong.