Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch.

Kemi Badenoch has vowed to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights if she becomes prime minister – despite previously saying it was a bad idea.

The Tory leader said the move was “necessary to protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens”.

Critics of the Convention, which was established in the wake of the Second World War, say it makes it harder for the UK government to deport illegal immigrants.

Badenoch announced the new policy on the eve of the Conservatives’ annual conference in Manchester.

It comes after a review of the Tories’ approach to the ECHR by Lord Wolfson, the shadow attorney general and a leading lawyer.

Badenoch said: “I have always been clear that we should leave the ECHR, if necessary, but unlike other parties we have done the serious work to develop a plan to do so – backed by legal advice from a distinguished King’s Counsel.

“Our country, and our parliament, must be sovereign. This step will ensure that the next Conservative government will enact the policies the British people rightly expect: controlling our borders and strengthening our........

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