Kemi Badenoch says there is no ‘quick fix’ for the Conservative Party

Speaking to Amol Rajan, Badenoch said: “Reform is saying things because it hasn’t thought it through. You can give easy answers if you haven’t thought it through.

“I think, and what people will get with new leadership under me, is thoughtful conservatism, not knee-jerk analysis.”

“We’re about what we’re for, not just what we’re against,” she said earlier in the interview.

Badenoch said she would not “rush out” with policy positions within six weeks and that people should be “patient”, but that she wanted to make sure people could believe she was telling the truth so she could serve their trust.

In response, Reform leader Nigel Farage said the Conservative leader “doesn’t understand that the level of betrayal means the Tory brand has been broken. She personally bears a huge responsibility for this”.

During the leadership contest, Badenoch deliberately avoided specific political positions, focusing instead on conservative “principles”.

But some in the party – including Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen – have warned against leaving a void on key issues such as migration that could be filled by the reform.

Houchen told the BBC this month there was a “huge opportunity” for the Tories because Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had “left the field” on the issue of migration, and called on the party to put forward a “sensible narrative”.