Tories nearly ran out of money as donors deserted them after humiliating election defeat, says Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch has admitted the Conservative Party almost went bankrupt as donors considered withdrawing their funds following its worst-ever election defeat.
The Conservative leader said he spent his first few months in office “working furiously behind the scenes”, leading some to think he was “doing nothing”.
speaking to the BBC news broadcast After a year as leader of the Conservative party, Ms Badenoch said keeping donors together “actually took up a lot of my time” and that she wished she had spent more time “a little bit more there”.
But he added: “Without money, a party cannot survive.”
Asked if there was a risk of the Conservatives going bankrupt, the Conservative Party leader said: “Yes there was.”
Ms Badenoch took over the party following a leadership race triggered by Rishi Sunak’s resignation following the 2024 general election in which the party lost 250 seats.
Last year, the Conservative Party leader slowly began to formulate a new policy platform for the party, insisting that he would rebuild the Conservatives’ vision for Britain; However, talk that the leadership will have difficulty due to weak approval rates is increasing.
Robert Jenrick is the favorite to replace him.
But Ms Badenoch said: “This first year of my leadership has been about rebuilding, rebuilding our party, our principles and our plan for Britain.”
“After the defeat in 2024, we faced a choice: to return to slogans or rebuild around values. We chose to rebuild.
“The Conservative Party now stands once again for what makes Britain strong in the first place: responsibility, fairness, competence and pride in our nation.”
He also noted that the sheer number of donations the party received last year was one area where it outperformed its political rivals.
“As we rebuild, we also stayed united, raised more money than all the other parties combined and exposed Labor’s hypocritical behavior and the weakness of its policies, forcing U-turns on winter fuel payments, grooming gangs and welfare cuts,” Ms Badenoch said.
He added: “I have spent this year giving the country a serious alternative to Labour’s weakness: a plan for a stronger economy and stronger borders.
“The Conservatives have set out detailed, costly policies to cut waste, cut taxes, control immigration and reward work. We’ve shown how to fix prosperity, stop the boats, cut energy bills and make work pay back.”
Despite the party’s insistence that it offers a credible alternative to a Labor government, YouGov’s latest poll shows voters have yet to convince Ms Badenoch: 12 per cent believe she is a prime minister-in-waiting, while 62 per cent do not.
The survey of 2,136 British adults, conducted between 28 and 29 October, found that a majority of Conservative members (54 per cent) believe he is doing a good job as party leader, while 24 per cent say he is doing a poor job.
