Last year, when it looked as if the Tories were set to be overwhelmed by a collapse in their support and a polling surge towards Nigel Farage‘s Reform Party, Kemi Badenoch and her aides convened for a meeting.
In front of them was a simple strategic choice. They could, one senior adviser explained, attempt to outflank Reform on the Right by mimicking their increasingly populist rhetoric and agenda. Or they could challenge it, and start to construct an alternative, distinct message, one rooted in traditional Thatcherite, Conservative values.
Debate ensued. Then Mrs Badenoch finally interjected. ‘We are not like them,’ she said. ‘We are
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