As Kemi Badenoch faces a make-or-break gathering her biggest challenge will be to make herself appear relevant
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ew people doubt that Kemi Badenoch faces what could be a make-or-break Conservative party conference this weekend. However, some members are not so worried about regicide so much as a more prosaic threat: sheer apathy.
“For every conference, as long as I can remember, I’ve gone for three or four days. This time it’s a day trip,” one senior party activist said. “Quite frankly, I’m thinking: ‘What’s the point in going for any longer?’ I know of lots of other people doing the same thing.”
This is not to say Badenoch will have an easy time in Manchester. Many of her MPs privately agree the clock is ticking on her tenure in the job. An X account reputedly set up by a disgruntled backbencher offers a daily countdown to the anniversary of her leadership victory after which, under party rules, she can face a challenge.
