Was Kemi Badenoch’s speech a success?

Kemi Badenoch’s first big speech of 2024 was meant to seize the news agenda and tell the public that the Tory party is changing under her leadership. Yet in a sign of the difficulties opposition leaders have getting their messages out, Badenoch had to compete with the Labour government announcement of a ‘rapid national audit’ and new local inquiries into the grooming gangs scandal. The timing of Yvette Cooper’s statement to the House – 20 minutes into Badenoch’s speech – meant it was Labour leading the news in Westminster this afternoon.

However, that’s not to say it was a wasted opportunity. After Badenoch told her shadow cabinet last week that they needed to focus their efforts on winning back voter trust, the Tory leader used the speech to admit the Tory party had made mistakes and say that the way forward means an honest conversation with the public that will involve saying ‘some things that aren’t easy to hear’.