Badenoch's Tories are retreating into a complacent right-wing comfort zone despite record unpopularity, which harms British politics
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andybeckett. "No amount of sliding in the polls can shake Kemi Badenoch’s self-belief – or alter her party’s direction | Andy Beckett | The Guardian." November 5, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Badenoch is extremely confident, yet her party is polling worse than when she took over, and she isn't rethinking anything, unlike past Tory leaders after big defeats. The party keeps doubling down on familiar right-wing policies because its wealthy backers are doing fine and its leader seems unable to question herself. The author argues this keeps British politics tilted to the right and will do so unless a more open-minded Tory takes over.
Conclusion
Despite sliding poll numbers, Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives are not reinventing themselves but are moving deeper into a complacent 'comfort zone' Conservatism. This reflects her overconfidence and the party's structural complacency, and it will keep British politics skewed to the right unless a more open-minded leader replaces her.
Premises
- Badenoch's leadership has been defined by extreme self-assurance, expressed through contempt for opponents, self-congratulation and claims that the Tories alone are 'serious', 'common sense' and 'the real world' party.
- Under Badenoch the Conservatives have fallen in the polls from 26% to 21%, and are projected to win only 128 seats, despite crises inside Labour and Reform UK.
- After the defeats of 1945 and 1974 the Conservatives reassessed their record and changed direction fundamentally, whereas their current position is worse and no comparable reinvention has occurred.
- Instead the Tories have moved further right into a comfort zone of traditional remedies (deregulation, prisons, tax cuts for the prosperous, welfare cuts), treating them as always right and refusing to acknowledge failures such as Brexit or the need for net zero.
- Badenoch's affluent background and constituency, and the party's wealthy core support, help explain her unreflective outlook. Conservatism also tends toward complacency because it assumes the status quo is fine, and the rich, big business and the City are still doing well, so there is no threat to Tory-aligned interests to force radical change.
- The Tories' persistent attachment to old assumptions keeps traditional Conservative ideas about the economy and society looking respectable and realistic, which skews British politics, the media and public opinion rightwards.
Assumptions
- Falling poll numbers and electoral defeat should rationally prompt a party to rethink its direction.
- The 1945 and 1974 episodes are valid benchmarks for how the Conservatives respond to unpopularity.
- Badenoch's personal background and constituency causally shape her political outlook.
- Conservative ideas are mistaken or outdated, so their continued respectability is harmful.
- The Tories' poll decline is attributable to their ideological stagnation rather than to other factors such as the rise of Reform UK.
- Conservatism only adopts radical change when Tory-aligned interests are seriously threatened.
- The Tories' influence on the political Overton window persists despite their electoral weakness.