UK politics live: Police to get powers to restrict repeat protests – as Badenoch set for Tory Conference speech – UK Times

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has faced pressure to convince members of her party that she can lead them into the next election.

“Hold your nerve. Hold your nerve,” Mrs Badenoch said in an interview with the Telegraph. “We are the only party that can deliver a stronger economy and stronger borders. If we don’t hold our nerve, we are giving our country up. That is not right.”

“There will be tangible improvement. But it never happens overnight,” she added.

Immigration is set to be one of the key themes of the Conservative Party conference.

It comes as 34,401 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office figures, putting 2025 on course to break the record for most arrivals in a single year.

Kemi Badenoch said: “We must tackle the scourge of illegal immigration into Britain and secure our borders. That is why the Conservatives are setting out a serious and comprehensive new plan to end this crisis.”

The Tory party conference kicks off today.

From 2pm, a welcome will be given by conference chairman Stewart Harper, followed by party chairman Kevin Hollinrake, Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay and Welsh Conservatives leader Darren Millar.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch will welcome attendees at 2.45pm.

A YouGov poll on the eve of the Tory conference showed just 11 per cent of voters believe the party is ready for government.

Meanwhile, just one in five voters believes Kemi Badenoch has done well as Tory leader, according to the survey, while nearly half (45 per cent) think she has done badly.

A seat-level forecast by the pollster found that, were a general election held today, the party would fall from having 119 MPs to just 45, while Reform would be the largest party on 311.