FTI Consulting UK Public Affairs Snapshot: Conservative Party Conference 2025: Steadying the Ship

The Conservative Party’s annual conference this week saw a party still reeling from defeat seeking to rediscover its purpose and regain its resolve. For Kemi Badenoch, it was a week she needed to navigate successfully – and, by most accounts, she did. Yet beneath the high-profile announcements and revived rhetoric, the most striking feature of the conference was its quietness. Attendance was notably thin, with half-filled fringe events, sparsely attended receptions and many business delegates departing early. Overall, the mood in Manchester was one of a party resetting itself, rather than advancing. 

Badenoch entered the week under pressure. Her first year as leader has been reserved, with limited policy activity and continued decline in the polls as the party underwent a review of what had gone wrong in its final term in government. The next twelve months will be decisive: her immunity from a leadership challenge expires in November, and the heavy losses expected at May’s local elections provide a further major pressure point. The question in Manchester was therefore less whether Badenoch could transform the party’s prospects and more whether she could consolidate her position. 

The conference provided at least a temporary reprieve. A series of headline announcements – pledges to withdraw Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), repeal the Climate Change Act, impose a new “golden rule” on public spending and abolish stamp duty – delighted the grassroots and gave the party a clearer narrative than at any point since last year’s election. For many members, these were welcome signals that the party is rediscovering its ideological conviction. Badenoch’s speech was warmly received by MPs and attendees in the room and saw blistering criticisms of the Labour Party, which she said is “everything wrong with politics”, and of Reform UK, whose plans she dismissed as “fantasist economics”. 

The ECHR announcement, long debated inside the party, was presented as a test of Badenoch’s authority and of the Conservatives’ readiness to draw a clear dividing line with Labour and the courts. Potentially divisive within a party that has not historically been united on this issue, Badenoch’s pledge was accompanied by a new obligation for Conservative candidates at the next election to support ECHR withdrawal, mirroring the requirement placed on candidates at the 2019 general election to support Brexit. This has not, however, been universally welcomed by those positioned on the one nation wing of the party. 

The pledge to repeal the Climate Change Act was equally significant – a marked shift from the cross-party consensus that has shaped environmental policy for over a decade, and a stark departure from the party’s position on net zero under her predecessors. Together, these measures were framed as evidence that the Conservatives are prepared to speak plainly and return to what Badenoch described as “authentic conservatism”. 

Running alongside these flagship themes was a renewed focus on the economy and fiscal discipline. Badenoch’s commitment to “live within our means” was reinforced by a rule that at least half of any savings from spending cuts would go towards reducing the deficit, with the remainder directed towards targeted tax reductions. “Only the Conservative Party,” she said, “can deliver both stronger borders and a stronger economy.” Coupled with proposals to cap so-called “debt-trap” university degrees and reduce welfare and civil service costs, the package was designed to re-establish the party’s reputation for sound management of the nation’s finances and contrast its approach with that of Reform. 

The new dividing line with Reform was evident throughout the week. Badenoch and senior Shadow Cabinet members sought to reposition Nigel Farage’s party as economically interventionist – “left-wing”, in their words – highlighting its support for nationalisation and central planning. Badenoch’s description of Reform as “trans conservatives” was intended to underline that, despite its populist tone, Reform is not an ideologically conservative party. 

After months of perceived drift, Badenoch appeared to have found a greater sense of purpose this week, and many delegates expressed quiet relief that the conference passed without any major internal incidents or MP defections to Reform. Journalists also noted that the breadth of policy content allowed the party to re-engage with the media on more substantive terms, though many attendees concluded that the conference was a “sticking-plaster moment” rather than a substantive turning point. 

The challenges nonetheless remain formidable.  Polling continues to place the Conservatives in the mid-teens despite Labour’s falling popularity, and internal divisions persist. Robert Jenrick – whose comments on Birmingham made their own headlines – remains a visible presence, although he displayed somewhat of a lower profile in Manchester. 

Meanwhile, open speculation about what happens when Badenoch’s grace period ends was a persistent feature of late-night conversations. Her allies argue that another change at the top would appear destabilising and counter-productive, but even many of her supporters accept that demonstrating visible progress by spring will be essential. 

Ultimately, Manchester was a conference of mixed outcomes: a week that did enough to stabilise Badenoch’s leadership but not necessarily alter the party’s trajectory.  It provided substance and some sense of direction, yet the scale of the task ahead remains daunting. The coming months – from the response to the Budget to the May 2026 local elections – will determine whether this represents the start of a reset or merely a pause before another bout of internal turbulence.  

For now, the Conservatives appear to be betting heavily on Reform’s eventual implosion and Labour’s troubles persisting. It may prove a dangerous gamble.