Kemi Badenoch has sparked controversy by branding Reform UK as a "woke" party, a move that many find puzzling given the party's leaders are not typically associated with political correctness. The Conservative leader's claim is part of a calculated strategy to position Reform as unfit for power and to protect the Tories' status as the main right-wing party.
Redefining 'woke'
For Badenoch, wokeness is not about left-wing causes but about a "victim mentality" and complaining that "people are doing this to us." She explained on the Political Currency podcast: "It's all moaning and whinging and not proper solutions. It's about power dynamics and how to get power, not actually solutions and how to fix things."
She is determined to paint Reform as a party of complainers while presenting herself as a problem-solver. Despite moving her party to the right, including a commitment to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, she wants voters to see the Tories as a unifying force. She stated: "What I'm not going to do is demonise certain groups, whether it's billionaires or immigrants or the wealthy, or NHS workers, or the public sector – we're not doing that. We're not setting groups against each other, and Reform does that."
Electoral challenges
The Conservatives face a difficult electoral landscape. Polls show them at 19%, trailing Labour at 23%, which has benefited from a leadership change and a decline in Green support. However, betting odds offer some encouragement: Badenoch is now joint favourite with Farage to become the next prime minister, at 7/2.
Reform, meanwhile, is bolstered by high-profile defections. Karl Williams, a migration expert, is leaving the Centre for Policy Studies to join Reform, signaling confidence in Farage's party. Zia Yusuf, aspiring to be Reform's Home Secretary, has proposed making executives "criminally liable for illegal working."
Badenoch hopes Reform will suffer a popularity slump similar to the Greens, but if Farage wins the Clacton by-election with a larger majority, he will argue that Reform is the true standard-bearer of the British right. A third-place finish at the next election would be disastrous for the Conservatives, and Badenoch needs the Tories to top the polls soon to project an image of a party on the verge of power.
