UK Conservative leader refuses pact with far right despite party struggles

In her keynote address, Kemi Badenoch ruled out an alliance with Reform UK's Nigel Farage as she seeks to rebuild her party after its historic 2024 election defeat.MANCHESTER, England (CN) — Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch pledged Wednesday to abolish inheritance tax on family homes and let couples pass an additional 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) tax-free, as she painted her embattled opposition party as the defender of homeownership, lower taxes and smaller government.Delivering her keynote speech at the Conservative Party’s conference in Birmingham, Badenoch described the next election as a “battle for the soul of this nation” and attacked Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham over spending, taxes and welfare.She used the speech to rule out an electoral pact with Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage has drawn support from former Conservative voters. Many Conservative party members, including sitting lawmakers, have also defected to Farage’s party.She attacked Reform politicians over controversies involving its candidates and financial affairs before declaring: “To those who say ‘unite the right,’ we are not uniting with that.”Badenoch, a Black woman with Nigerian roots, also rejected suggestions she should move closer to Reform on immigration and national identity, saying she did not want to live in a country where politicians questioned whether her mixed-race children or Black England soccer players were English.Suella Braverman, a former Conservative lawmaker who defected to Reform, has spoken publicly about regarding herself as British but “not English” because of her Asian ethnicity.Rebuilding after historic defeatThe speech comes just over two years after Labour ended 14 years of Conservative-led government at the July 2024 general election.The Conservatives won 121 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, down from 365 in 2019.Reform UK won five seats but took 14.3% of the national vote, with all of its successful Conservative challenges coming in seats previously held by the Tories.Badenoch became Conservative leader in November 2024 after defeating Robert Jenrick, who later joined Reform.Since then, the Conservatives have remained behind Labour and Reform in many national polls.Badenoch acknowledged the challenge, telling delegates, “People are looking through the shop window. They like what they see. But let’s be honest, not enough of them are buying it.”She said she wanted the Conservatives to win the next election, expected in about three years, but insisted the party was ready if voters were called to the polls sooner.Tax reform proposalHer inheritance tax plan was the biggest announcement in the speech.“The next Conservative government will legislate so nobody will ever pay inheritance tax on their family home,” Badenoch said.Inheritance tax is charged at 40% on estates above the tax-free threshold of 325,000 pounds, rising to 500,000 pounds when a home is left to children or grandchildren.Only 4.72% of deaths resulted in inheritance-tax charges, according to the latest government data, meaning 95% of estates pay no inheritance tax at all.Badenoch also sought to frame her tax plans as part of a broader homeownership package, promising “no stamp duty when you buy your home, no mansion tax when you live in your home, and no inheritance tax on your home when you pass it to your children or grandchildren.”Stamp duty is a tax paid in England when someone buys property or land over a certain price — similar to a real estate transfer tax in the U.S.The U.K. mansion tax is a proposed annual flat-rate fee levied on homeowners in England whose properties are valued at or above 2 million pounds. It is scheduled to come into effect in April 2028.Spending cuts before tax cutsBadenoch said the Conservatives had identified more than 70 billion pounds in government savings and reaffirmed the party’s “golden economic rule” that half of any savings would go toward debt reduction.That would allow a future Conservative government to cut the deficit it inherits from Labour by more than 35 billion pounds, she said.She made economic growth the central theme of the speech, arguing cutting regulation, reducing welfare spending and expanding domestic energy production would help Britain prosper.“Energy is growth,” she said. “Countries that have expensive energy are poor.”Badenoch promised to expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, saying it would raise tax revenue and lower energy prices.The prime minister is under pressure to weaken Net Zero targets and allow further development in the North Sea as energy prices soar. Energy experts have argued the U.K. would gain greater long-term security by reducing its dependence on fossil fuels altogether and expanding renewable energy.On welfare, Badenock said Conservatives reject a “something for nothing culture” and argued reducing the benefits bill would help pay for defense.Earlier this week, the Conservatives pledged 10 billion pounds for a “Britannia Shield” network of radars, command systems and interceptor missiles to protect Britain from drone and missile attacks.Courthouse News reporter James Francis Whitehead is based in England.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads