Badenoch puts Tories on 'high alert' for snap election as conference launches 'radical measures' reset

From the Newshound archive · first published 5 October 2026.

Kemi Badenoch opened the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Sunday with a near 100-page blueprint titled 'The Right Way', warning that 'radical measures may be necessary' at the next election and urging activists to treat a snap poll as a real possibility. She mocked Prime Minister Andy Burnham's claim that defence spending need not come at benefits' expense, telling him there is 'no social security without national security'. Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith is today expected to unveil what he will call 'the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation', with plans to slash red tape and cut £50,000 from the price of a new-build home by scrapping green building rules.

Badenoch also spoke publicly for the first time about death threats from former IRA member Kieran Kyle, 43, who pleaded guilty last month to threatening to kill her and sent racist messages to her husband.

Badenoch insisted the party will stick with the pension triple lock despite senior figures urging her to follow Burnham in ditching it.