UK Conservative leader says the party is reviving and rules out a pact with Farage’s Reform UK

LONDON (AP) — The leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party said Wednesday that the Tories are on the path back to power, rejecting the idea of an alliance with rival right-of-center party Reform UK.

Two years after the Conservatives’ worst-ever election defeat, leader Kemi Badenoch said that she had put an end to the infighting, scandals and splits that threatened to tear the party apart.

“This party is now the no-drama party,” Badenoch told delegates at the Conservatives’ annual conference. “We are the no-nonsense party.”

Opinion polls consistently put the Conservatives behind both the center-left governing Labour Party and Reform UK. But Conservative delegates in the central England city of Birmingham expressed optimism that the party is on the rebound — a contrast to last year’s downbeat gathering, when some questioned whether it could even survive.

Britain’s 2024 election ousted the Conservative Party from power and reduced it to 121 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. Several former and serving lawmakers have defected to anti-immigration Reform UK, which has trounced the Conservatives in local elections and is aiming to become the most popular party of the right.

Badenoch, the first Black woman to lead a major U.K. political party, rejected calls for an electoral pact with Reform UK and denounced the race-based nationalism of some of its members. Suella Braverman, a former Conservative government minister who defected to Reform, has suggested that only white people can be English.

Badenoch said that she didn’t want to live in a country run by people who “debate whether my mixed-race children are English.”

“We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are,” she said.

“For people who say ‘Unite the right’ – we are not uniting with that,” she said, getting a standing ovation from the audience of party members.

Last year, both Badenoch and then Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced discontent from their own parties. Starmer was ousted by his own Labour Party in July after a series of missteps, lapses of judgment and policy U-turns frittered away voters’ support.

Meanwhile, Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is facing parliamentary and police investigations over its finances.

The troubles faced by the Conservative Party’s rivals have helped make Badenoch more secure in her position, despite little evidence voters are returning to the Tories.

In her speech, Badenoch largely steered clear of divisive “culture wars” issues such as gender identity that she has sometimes reveled in, and focused on a core message of economic conservatism.

She said that a Conservative government would slash welfare spending, loosen regulation and cut taxes, promising a sharp reduction in the number of people paying inheritance tax. She called Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who succeeded Starmer as Labour leader, a socialist who wants to “turn the clock back to the 1970s.”

Not all the party’s announcements landed well. There has been skepticism over a pledge to build an air-defense system against drone and missile attacks. The party said that the 10 billion pound ($13.2 billion) “Britannia Shield” would be similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, before acknowledging that its scope would be considerably more limited.

But in an optimistic address, Badenoch likened the Conservatives to Marks & Spencer, a venerable retailer whose clothes were long considered dowdy and dull. Now, she said, it’s “back in fashion — great looks at affordable prices.”

“Just like M&S, we must learn from our mistakes, win back trust and make people feel good about our party again,” she said.