Kemi Badenoch has declared the Conservatives will "win the next election" as she set out a blueprint for government in an opening speech at the party's conference in Birmingham on Sunday.
The Tory leader said the party must be "ready for anything" to resist buckling under pressure in government, referencing unexpected events including the war in Ukraine, the war in Iran, the global financial crisis, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Badenoch's Warning on Government Pressure
Mrs Badenoch said: "In government, we will be buffeted by unexpected events, wars we were not predicting, like the war in Ukraine and now the war in Iran. Governments were not expecting the global financial crisis. In the 2019 general election, no-one would have believed that a global pandemic was coming. We have to be ready for anything. We will be pressured to bend with the wind. That's why we need strong roots to make sure we do what is in Britain's long-term interests instead of politicians' short-term interests."
She added: "When we win the next election, and we will, we are going to need to hit the ground running. We will need to be ready from day one, having already shown people what kind of government we are going to be, and that is why today I have published The Right Way."
The Right Way Document
The Tories have published a document called The Right Way aimed at establishing a philosophy on how it will govern in future. It has echoes of Margaret Thatcher's The Right Approach, a similar document published in 1976.
Mrs Badenoch also said the Tories must offer a clear plan where Prime Minister Andy Burnham does not have one, claiming his promises will "all come to nought".
Policy Announcements
The Conservatives have made a series of policy announcements in the days approaching the yearly event, as they seek to broaden their platform for government ahead of the next general election.
The party has pledged to end a childcare "cliff edge", which currently means parents earning more than £100,000 do not qualify for the entitlement. All parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible to get 30 hours of free care a week under the Tories' proposals. The policy is estimated to cost £700 million a year, which party officials say could be funded by cutting the number of public servants at arms-length bodies.
Mrs Badenoch indicated people earning as much as £1 million a year would still be eligible for the entitlement but insisted the pledge was targeted at earners around the £100,000 threshold.
The Tories have also pledged to deliver 50,000 new prison places by slashing the overseas aid budget to £1 billion a year in a bid to end the early release of offenders. There have been suggestions that Mrs Badenoch may announce plans to abolish inheritance tax but more details could come at her main speech on Wednesday.
The Tories also announced a plan to tighten access to student loans for non-UK nationals – a policy they say would save the taxpayer £900 million a year. The proposals would also block EU Settled Status (EUSS) claims, a system the Tories said is being "abused".
