Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch uses her keynote speech at the party conference in Birmingham to directly criticise Reform UK and senior figures linked to its stance on “Englishness”. She condemns claims that people of immigrant heritage—specifically including black and mixed-race people—cannot be English, saying the rhetoric would make her children feel excluded and comparing the argument unfavourably with how Englishness was understood in the past.
Outlets also report that Badenoch frames the coming political contest as a broader fight, contrasting her approach with Labour’s leader Andy Burnham and positioning the next election as a “battle for the soul of the nation”. Multiple sources describe her as taking a combative tone, including an attack on Burnham and a pledge to prioritise policies such as inheritance tax changes and tax cuts for younger people.
Across coverage, the “Englishness” row is linked to wider Conservative–Reform tensions, with commentators noting Badenoch’s rejection of any pre-election deal with Nigel Farage’s party. Separate reporting also highlights that Reform deputy leader Richard Tice avoids directly answering whether he would question Badenoch’s Englishness when pressed in an interview. Meanwhile, some commentators question how far Badenoch’s personal pitch will translate into broader electoral gains for the Conservatives as opinion polls remain uncertain.
