How the Conservatives are Reclaiming the Right

How the Conservatives are Reclaiming the Right 

Since the 2024 general election, the British political right of has seen the Conservatives’ dramatic decline coupled with the meteoric rise of Reform UK. After their historically bad election defeat, in which they won only 121 seats, losing 251 in the process, the Tories appeared to be a party in terminal decline, with Nigel Farage threatening their existence entirely. Yet Badenoch’s rousing speech at the Conservative Party conference earlier this month suggests that this narrative is looking far less certain. The party is beginning to regain its political confidence and challenge Reform on territory it’s dominated for the past two years. They have not yet won back the right, but the battle is certainly competitive again. 

It would be easy to mostly attribute Reform’s rise to a sustained period of Tory incompetence, but to do this would be oversimplifying. Their period of dominance in the polls was also a reflection of the party’s ability to identify and own the issues on which a large section of the electorate felt the political establishment had failed them. Immigration, border control and frustration with cultural change became central to political discourse, with Farage presenting Reform as the only party prepared to confront them without compromise. This left the Conservatives in a precarious position, where after 14 years in government, they had little credibility when promising to address problems they had pledged to solve time and time again. 

The polling reflected these predicament. During 2025, Reform enjoyed a comfortable lead, whilst the Conservatives stagnated in the teens. YouGov polls on 27th May 2025 unveiled this, with Reform on 29% and the Tories on just 15% - a 14 point gap. The danger was no longer just electoral defeat, but permanently losing the grip on the British right. Yet this created an opportunity as well as a threat. By establishing the terms on which the next election will be fought, the question now is whether Reform can retain ownership of those issues when the Conservatives begin offering their own answers to pressing issues. 

Badenoch’s conference speech was significant because it gave the sense that her party is finally moving beyond simply reacting to Reform. Her message was not just that the country needs to be tougher on immigration or a reduction in size of the state, but that the country requires a different philosophy of governance. She provides this foundation in her policy booklet The Right Way, in which she asserts that the government has taken responsibility for too much whilst failing to deliver. It challenges the assumption that every public problem requires government intervention, instead placing economic growth, individual responsibility and a more streamlined state at the heart of Conservative thinking. 

Whether one agrees with the sentiment or not, it is important because it offers a coherent account of how Britain should be governed as opposed to Reform’s broad, rather incoherent anti-establishment rhetoric. Farage is undoubtedly effective at identifying public frustrations, but shouting what is wrong from the sidelines is less effective than explaining how one would go about putting it right. Badenoch is at the very least attempting to put forward her case for national renewal based on lower taxes and welfare reform, rather than merely protesting against the incumbent government. In doing so, she is seeking to reclaim traditional Conservative

values from a party that has increasingly presented itself as the true champion of these values. 

Her conference performance also displayed a leader increasingly comfortable in her role. Her refusal to entertain a deal with Reform signals a party less willing to let Farage define its future. And love them or loathe them, proposals on inheritance tax and welfare reform have also allowed the party to demonstrate that it can translate its principles into policies with tangible consequences for voters. There are significant questions regarding the costs and practical delivery of these proposals, but Badenoch is beginning to establish a distinctive argument, and in doing so, moving away from being a moderate version of Reform, and instead offering an alternative option for voters. 

Crucially, this growing confidence has coincided with growing scrutiny of Reform itself. A party that built its appeal to those disillusioned by an untrustworthy political establishment faces severe problems when questions are asked of its own conduct and finances. The party’s appeal depends heavily on its offer for something fundamentally different from the established parties, so the more it becomes associated with scandal and dysfunction, the more difficult it becomes to sustain that offer. This has been reflected in the polls, with a YouGov poll in September showing that around 60% of Britons described Reform as untrustworthy, whilst only 15-16% described the party as trustworthy. 

This presents an opportunity for the Conservatives. Their argument doesn’t need to be that voters’ frustrations are misplaced, but that Reform does not have the competence to resolve them. A party can successfully campaign against Westminster without possessing the policies, personnel or discipline needed to govern it. Recent polling has shown signs of encouragement for Badenoch, with a YouGov poll published on the 13th October finding that Tory support had risen to 23% whilst Reform fell to 21%, clearly demonstrating that there is an alternative to Farage for voters who want a change of direction on the right. 

Nonetheless, it would be premature to declare the party’s recovery complete. Their brand remains damaged by years of instability, broken promises and the many failures of fourteen years of government. Badenoch may have improved the party’s standing in recent months, but Labour still comfortably lead the polls. Moverover, winning back Reform supporters is only one part of the electoral challenge. They must also convince voters who shifted their allegiance to Labour or the Liberal Democrats that they deserve another chance. A strategy that appeals only to those on the right risks reinforcing the perception that they have little to offer beyond their traditional electoral base. 

Ultimately, Badenoch’s conference speech has offered the Conservatives a sense of direction that they have greatly lacked in recent years. Reform put their stamp on the agenda, capitalising on a sense of frustration and disillusionment, but the Tories are now attempting to reclaim the argument through a clear philosophy and economic renewal. However, the party must demonstrate that they’ve learned from their mistakes, and prove that their newfound confidence is not just another false dawn.