By Abiola Olawale
The leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, Kemi Badenoch, has hit back at critics calling for her removal, insisting that sacking her will not resolve the party’s deeper issues.
This comes as the Tories grapple with internal divisions and declining public support.
It also comes after the Conservative Party recorded yer another poor outing in the local elections held on May 1.
Recall that the Tories lost 674 council seats and control of 16 authorities, while the Nigel Farage-led Reform UK won 10 councils, gaining 677 councillors.
Following the poor performance many had called for Badenoch to resign over what they described as inability to solve the party’s performance.
Badenoch’s critics argue that her polarizing style and hardline stances on issues like immigration and cultural debates have alienated moderate voters.
Reacting, Badenoch, who succeeded Rishi Sunak in November 2024 said: “Reform had a good night. We had a bad night. And what this shows for a lot of people who hoped that just changing leader again would fix everything is that that’s not going to be enough. We tried that previously. And that brought us to a historic defeat.”
The Tory leader said her party will come up with a plan to return to power but will not rush to sweet-talk the public just to win elections.
She added: “We are going to come out with the policies that people want to see, but what we are not going to do is rush out and tell the public things that are not true just so we can win votes.
“This is not about winning elections; this is about fixing our country. Yes, of course, you need to win elections to do that, but you also need a credible plan.”
