Kemi Badenoch says there is no ‘quick fix’ for Conservative Party

Speaking to Amol Rajan, Badenoch said: “Reform is saying stuff because it hasn’t thought it all through. You can give easy answers if you haven’t thought it all through.

“I do the thinking and what people are going to get with new leadership under me is thoughtful Conservatism, not knee-jerk analysis.”

“We are about what we are for, not just what we are against,” she said earlier in the interview.

Badenoch said she would not “rush out” policy positions within six weeks and people would need to be “patient”, but that she wanted to ensure people could believe she was telling the truth so she could earn their trust.

In response, Reform leader Nigel Farage said the Conservative leader “doesn’t understand that the level of betrayal means that the Tory brand is broken. She personally bears heavy responsibility for this”.

During the leadership contest, Badenoch deliberately avoided specific policy positions, focusing instead on Conservative “principles”.

But some in the party – including Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen – have warned against leaving a void on key issues such as migration that could be filled by Reform.

Houchen told the BBC this month there was a “big opportunity” for the Tories because Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had “left the field” on the issue of migration, and called for the party to put forward a “sensible narrative”.