The year that will make or break Kemi Badenoch

For Badenoch , 2025 could be the year that makes or breaks her.

Sir Keir Starmer ’s dreadful start as Prime Minister has gifted the Tories an opportunity to claw back some of the support the last general election so starkly proved they had lost.

If dismayed voters turn to Reform UK rather than the Tories , she will be in for an uncomfortable second half of 2025 .

Some Tories are already speculating about Badenoch ’s potential downfall.

Boris Johnson was so popular that the Tories won the Hartlepool by-election on the same day as the local elections.

The Tories have been told that the benchmark for success will be an improvement on the vote share in last year's general election, rather than an improvement in the 2021 local election results.

In her New Year message she urged the public to “watch this space” Badenoch wants every Conservative Party member to take part in surveys and conversations about what the Party ’s position should be on key issues.

She is adamant she will not be rushed, though, and will instead announce a series of policy commissions to effectively start formulating the 2029 manifesto.