KEMI Badenoch insisted the Tories are bouncing back despite heavy local election losses — and warned Rachel Reeves her own seat could now be under threat.
The Conservative leader said she was “very proud” of the results despite her party losing more than 300 council seats across England — with Reform making huge gains in traditional Tory heartlands and seizing control of Essex.
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Kemi Badenoch insisted the Tories are bouncing back despite heavy local election losses Credit: EPA
Ms Badenoch warned Rachel Reeves her own seat could now be under threat Credit: Getty
There were some glimmers of hope in the capital, with the party taking back Westminster from Labour, becoming the biggest party in Wandsworth and holding Bexley and Kensington and Chelsea.
Tories also pointed to local election results in the four wards that make up Leeds West and Pudsey — the Chancellor’s constituency — which showed the Conservatives narrowly ahead of Labour on combined vote share.
One Tory source told The Jattvibe of the result: “If Starmer doesn’t have the backbone to sack Reeves for her disastrous management of the economy — which is crippling hard working families — Kemi’s new Conservatives are coming for her at the next election.”
Speaking outside Westminster City Hall, Ms Badenoch said: “I said that we were going to rebuild after our worst defeat ever and we can see those signs of renewal everywhere that we are standing.”
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She added: “Just two years ago, people were writing us off, saying that we were completely finished, and now we are winning Westminster.
“I’m very proud of how we have done.”
However, the local elections still brought major blows.
The party lost control of Hampshire and were wiped out in Sutton.
Reform also managed to topple the Tories in Essex — Mrs Badenoch’s own local authority.
Ipsos pollster Keiran Pedley said the Conservatives were showing “some signs of resilience” in London and Essex despite wider losses in the elections.
But he warned that Britain was seeing “falling support for the traditional two main parties”.
