It is 11:26 a.m. and Kemi Badenoch is on her second drink of the day. The Tory leader is out visiting a craft brewery in Suffolk. ‘I’m not a beer drinker’, she admits, while sampling its signature line – ‘so if I like it, it must be good’. The gin is to more to her taste, and she takes a hearty gulp before bustling around the brewery to promote the Conservatives’ small business focus. Later, she gets to hammer a mallet to batter a sealed cask shut – a weapon she might wish to wield at some of her recent defectors.

The past 12 months have been a tale of two narratives for Badenoch. Her personal ratings have undergone an impressive improvement, helped by a series of confident performances in parliament. But the party’s ratings remain stubbornly low, despite a raft of new policies. On Thursday, the Conservatives are forecast for losses across England and heavy reversals in the devolved parliaments. ‘Everywhere I go, I get a positive reception’, she says. ‘So, let’s see what people actually do on the day. We can’t be influenced by just social media or Reform’s own propaganda. What I see is people recognising that I’m the one who is holding Labour to account.’

‘We can’t be influenced by just social media or Reform’s own propaganda. What I see is people recognising that I’m the one who is holding Labour to account’

‘We can’t be influenced by just social media or Reform’s own propaganda. What I see is people recognising that I’m the one who is holding Labour to account’

On the campaign trail for her second locals as leader, Badenoch is adopting a more aggressive stance towards her rivals on the right. She takes repeated aim at Nigel Farage, insisting his party is ‘not serious’ about the challenges Britain faces. ‘A lot of the people who are in Reform are either people we kicked out, you know, like that guy in Essex who was showing his dick pics everywhere, his genitals, people we kicked out, or people who were causing problems that we didn’t want or people who defected.’ (The Essex man denies having sent a picture of his genitals and says he resigned from the Tory party.)

Badenoch attacks Farage for missing the Veterans’ Bill vote in parliament. ‘That’s what would........

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