This opinion column was published in the Whitehaven News on the 20th August 2025, and in the Times and Star on the 21st August 2025.
Last weeks polling showed significant improvement for the Conservatives up over 20% on the previous poll, party leader Kemi Badenoch’s personal polling on the Conservative home website also showed significant progress.
These are small steps but are moving in the right direction and as detailed policies with a plan of how they will be delivered are developed and rolled out I fully expect to see a continued increase in the party’s poll ratings.
I really believe Kemi Badenoch after a tentative start is growing into the role as leader of the opposition and her performance is growing stronger with every passing week.
This improvement was reflected in Q4 of 2024 and Q1 of 2025 when the party raised more funding than Labour and Reform combined demonstrating the party leadership is rebuilding trust with donors.
In a recent letter to members Kemi Badenoch articulated perfectly, The truth is Labour are going wrong because they are following their principles. We went wrong when we failed to follow ours.
I was pleased to see her state that the party is returning to authentic conservative principles.
. Freedom of speech, of markets, of association
. Pro-enterprise
. Personal responsibility
. Living within our means
. National interest before international interest
. Lower taxes and a smaller state
. Secure borders
The whole party needs to get behind the leader and need to have patience as Kemi is taking exactly the right approach in taking time to build a serious policy platform, there is still a long time to the General Election and that time needs to be used wisely to develop plans in line with the above principles.
We are currently learning a harsh lesson from the present government of the disastrous effect of entering office with no plan at all other than the usual tax and spend.
We have seen illegal immigration career out of control, inflation almost double, unemployment increase, both GDP and wage growth stagnate and this week the 30-year GILT yield which determines the cost of government borrowing rose to 5.61%, the highest level for 27 years leaving the Country on the cusp of a debt crisis.
The chancellor has an estimated £50 billion blackhole which is very real unlike the fictional £22b blackhole and it is entirely of the chancellor’s own creation. Back bench Labour MPs are now in open revolt and not allowing the government to make even the most modest of cuts to government spending, so it will most certainly mean much higher taxation. The aspirational, the entrepreneurs and the wealth creators along with those that have worked hard for a comfortable retirement and want to leave an inheritance from the fruit of their endeavours will almost certainly be targeted even though history has repeatedly proved this makes a bad situation even worse.
