The below is the full text of a letter – issued by Kemi Badenoch – providing an update on the Conservative Party’s policy development and her Renewal Programme:
Dear Colleague
Following my previous letter on 14th April, I wanted to update you on our policy work. At the last meeting of the 1922 Committee, colleagues asked for a summary of our policy announcements to use over recess. This is provided below.
I am grateful for the work that our Shadow Frontbench is doing, both launching immediate policy responding to events and the Government’s decisions, as well as supporting our long-term Policy Renewal Programme. Our Party must work together to talk about the good announcements that we have made and support one another in communicating these messages to the public.
We have announced plans to support our core vision of authentic conservativism across many areas of public policy. As the only political party unequivocally committed to standing up for the Union, our policies cover all of our United Kingdom.
All of our policies must be underpinned by a clear set of authentic Conservative principles:
Unlike any other party, our policy approach means telling hard truths and being serious about the challenges.
Taxation:
We have opposed Labour’s damaging tax rises on working people, leading the fight against Labour’s terrible Jobs Tax, which will hit employers, struggling businesses, charities, and public services. We have also committed to reversing this Labour government’s cruel and unnecessary taxes on ambition, including:
Welfare:
We are clear that the spiralling welfare bill is unaffordable for British taxpayers. We have:
Immigration:
We have tabled the landmark ‘Deportation Bill’, which sets out a clear vision for border control under a Conservative Government, with tough, practical measures designed to end abuse, enforce the law, and put British interests first:
Law and order:
We have taken a no-nonsense approach to law and order, refusing to allow criminals free reign and being clear that prison works:
Conservatives respect our independent legal system, but we oppose the legal activism which see courts going in the opposite direction to the will of the elected Parliament.
Energy security:
The Conservatives have told the truth that the 2050 Net Zero target is impossible. Our work is underway, looking into how we can deliver cheap and clean energy, without bankrupting businesses, without eye-watering bills for households, and in a way which reduces our dependency on hostile or unstable countries.
We have opposed plans to force green targets on individuals and businesses:
Health and social care:
We have pushed for more money to reach the NHS frontline, calling out big bonuses for managers and warning Government to get a grip on ever-increasing pay demands.
We warned Labour that caving in and giving resident doctors a huge pay rise of 28.9% would only leave the militant BMA wanting more. In response to yet more strikes, we have announced plans to put patients first by legislating for minimum service levels and banning doctors from striking.
We stand with patients who deserve better services, not the militant unions demanding more payouts.
Supporting aspiration:
We back people who work hard, want to start a family and save up to do so.
More homes are needed but Labour’s flagship planning reforms will not work – they are building homes in the countryside and not in towns and cities where people want to live, and they are overriding local democratic consent by bypassing planning committees. We want to build more homes, in the right places, to support young families.
Our lawfare commission will also ensure we can prioritise homes for British people – we cannot continue a situation where British citizens are behind new immigrants in the queue to access social housing.
Education and protecting children:
We have opposed Labour’s terrible plans to overturn the cross-party consensus on school reform which has seen a huge rise in English school standards.
We have proposed policies to protect kids from poisonous social media. Instead of the hysteria around online radicalisation, we drew up new powers to ban smartphones in schools and restrict social media use for under 16s.
We have forced votes on the need for a national inquiry into child rape gangs, because we believe that the victims of this awful and national scandal deserve justice and deserve the truth. We forced the Government into a U-turn.
We continue to give a voice to those victims and be honest about the perpetrators, including voting for the full release of ethnicity data of sex offenders.
Pensioners:
This Labour government snatched Winter Fuel Payments from millions of the poorest pensioners. We voted consistently against this in the House of Commons, forcing a U-turn.
Labour also plans to make pensioners pay income tax on their pensions for the first time. We exposed their plans to do this and have tried to stop them.
Government efficiency and effectiveness:
Our Shadow Ministers are the only ones serious about limiting government spending and the size of the quango state:
Personal freedoms:
We have vigorously defended important rights such as freedom of speech, thought, press and religion. We are the only Party which consistently votes for less, not more, intrusion:
Our Party defends common sense. That is why Conservatives have resisted the right-on dogma destroying our institutions:
Defending the national interest:
We believe in putting national interest before international interests:
We set out five clear tests to stop the Brexit betrayal and safeguard British sovereignty, secure our borders, and defend our fishing rights:
When Labour’s EU Surrender clearly failed all these tests and sought to drag us back into old debates about Brexit, we pledged we would simply reverse their deal.
ECHR and lawfare:
We have been clear that if we need to leave the ECHR, we will. Learning from mistakes of the past, we will not be making announcements without doing the work to understand what the consequences would be and planning for them. Lord Wolfson of Tredegar KC, our Shadow Attorney General, has been asked to lead a policy commission in this area, reporting back at our 2025 Party Conference.
Conclusion:
Our Party will continue to develop these early positions over the coming months. But for these messages to land with the public, we must repeat them unashamedly. I urge you, whenever you are doing media on behalf of our Party or communicating with voters on social media, never to be afraid to take an authentically conservative position. If you have ideas for such positions that we could take, please speak to the relevant Shadow Secretary of State.
Thank you for your ongoing support in renewing our Conservative Party. Yours sincerely
Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP