Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has dismissed growing calls for her to resign following the party’s disastrous local election results, warning that changing leaders again “won’t be enough.”
The Tories lost over 600 councillors and all 15 councils they controlled, with Reform UK surging in support and pushing the Conservatives into third place in many areas.
Despite the backlash, Badenoch stood firm. “What this shows, for a lot of people who hoped that just changing leader again would fix everything, is that that’s not going to be enough,” she said. “We tried that previously and that brought us to an historic defeat.”
Jason Smithers, former leader of North Northamptonshire Council, which flipped to Reform, said he would urge Badenoch to step down: “She has not helped in these elections; she has not once come forward and helped at all.”
But Badenoch defended her strategy: “This is six months into a five-year project. What we are doing is steadying the ship, being united… Reform had a good night, we had a bad night.”
She acknowledged the frustration driving Reform’s rise: “Protest is in the air… I suspect things will get worse.”
Asked about Nigel Farage potentially becoming prime minister, she said: “Anything is feasible.” But added, “My job is to make sure that he does not become PM because he does not have the answers to the problems the country is facing.”
