Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the Conservative Party conference

Longstanding Conservative Party member Alexandra Hooper, from Buckinghamshire, says: “This is the first time I have felt compelled to come to conference because I genuinely believe that the Conservatives are the only party that have a proper plan.”

She believes the party lost its way during the Boris Johnson era and voted for Badenoch in the 2024 leadership election.

“She has more than lived up to my expectations. She is a class act.”

Her friend, Sue Stimson, tells me: “This is my first ever Conservative Party conference.

"I’m only recently a party member. The reason I joined is actually because of Kemi. She really seems like your old school conviction politician, who really genuinely believes in what she says.”

In her speech, Kemi Badenoch announced that a Conservative government would legislate to make changes to the inheritance tax system.

Inheritance tax applies to a person's estate worth more than £325,000, or £500,000 if a home is left to children or grandchildren. Married or civil partners can also transfer assets between each other.

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

In an hour-long conference speech, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said a battle of ideas was coming in British politics, going "to the very core of who we are".

Here's a recap of what she said:

Taxes

• Badenoch pledged to cut "every inheritance tax bill", saying nobody would pay inheritance tax on their family home under a Conservative government
• She also said couples would be allowed to pass on an additional £1m tax free

Economy

• Badenoch said the Tories would focus on reducing government borrowing, using half of any policy savings to cut the deficit
• She said businesses are being "held back" from achieving growth by the planning, tax and energy systems
• On youth unemployment, she said the answer is to "move government out of the way" so businesses can create jobs
• She also called for a "tough love" approach to welfare, pledging spending restrictions for those who haven't found work within six months

Party politics

• Taking aim at Labour, she accused the government of ideas which will "make every single person in this country poorer"
• She pitched a new Conservative Party with a "united team", saying that the "drama" of the old party was gone
• Reform UK voters "deserve better", she argued, adding that the Conservatives want the voters they have lost back

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

That ticked off the broad themes of Tory leaders' speeches over the years: tax cuts, law and order, defending the nation.

The members enjoyed it, and Badenoch seems increasingly confident.

She is able to change gear from humour, to emotive messages and political rhetoric with ease.

But the audience that matters is far outside this sweaty conference centre.

And although her personal ratings have risen, voters' views of her party remain decidedly mixed. And if an election was called today, the Tories would be in danger of being pushed into third place behind Labour and Reform.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Conservative Party conference

The Tory faithful rise to their feet as Badenoch finishes her speech with a promise to get Britain working again.

She is joined on stage by husband Hamish and there a few Union flags being waved as they make their way though the adoring crowd.

At the start of the week she described herself as an old school Conservative - and this was an old school leader's speech.

Although it’s hard to imagine Margaret Thatcher using the word “badass” as Badenoch did to describe a tough school head.

Closing out her speech, Badenoch says the Conservatives are "are on your side, whoever you are".

We have something for everyone, she adds, listing parents, business owners, and police officers.

She then greets her husband and the pair walk off stage together, before heading out of the hall to applause.

Image source, PA Media

Badenoch says the party is not abolishing inheritance tax outright, pointing to the need to finance their policy plans.

"Conservatives will not announce a tax cut without telling you how we are going to pay for it," she says.

She says the party's plans mean the number of families paying inheritance tax will fall by "more than half".

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Conservative Party conference

A good reception for Badenoch’s inheritance tax announcement.Some here may have expected her to go further and pledge to scrap it altogether, as she acknowledged.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

Badenoch's inheritance tax announcement seems as popular with party members as last year's pledge to scrap stamp duty.

Some here will be disappointed that she is not committing to abolish that tax altogether, even if that remains the party's longer term aim.

Yet critics will argue this is a policy that helps the wealthiest. Only about 1 in 20 estates actually pays this tax.

After much speculation, Badenoch addresses the topic of inheritance tax, and vows the Conservatives will introduce new legislation to allow individuals to pass on their family home to their children without paying inheritance tax.

"The next Conservative government will legislate so nobody will ever pay inheritance tax on their family home," she says.

She also adds couples will be able to leave an additional £1m "tax free".

Badenoch says it remains her ambition to abolish inheritance tax as soon as it can be afforded.

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

Moving on to crime and policing, Badenoch mentions the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak as well as those of teenagers Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar.

She points out that O’Malley-Kumar's father is sitting in the audience, to applause.

"There has to be proper accountability for those who are responsible. We have to do better", Badenoch says.

She goes on to criticise the government's early prisoner release scheme, saying that "criminals need to face the full force of the law".

If they win the next election, Badenoch adds, the Conservatives will build 50,000 more prison places and introduce tougher minimum sentences for the "worst crimes".

For context: The government's early prison release plan had initially included those convicted of manslaughter, though that was ruled out after public outcry. Valdo Calocane, who killed Grace O'Malley-Kumar, Barnarby Webber, and Ian Coates in Nottingham in 2023, was convicted of manslaughter.

Image source, Reuters

Moving onto welfare, Badenoch calls for "tough love" after calling the system "broken".

"We spend more on benefits than we raise in income tax," she says.

They will build a new welfare system where everyone who can work, will work, Badenoch says.

She also sets out a restriction for people where if they haven't found work within six months, they will get a card which they can only use to buy necessities: "No alcohol, no cigarettes, no gambling."

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Badenoch commits to "cutting the interest on some... student loans" to applause from the crowd.

But of course student debt jumped under the 14 years of Conservative and coalition government.

That is the central challenge of Badenoch's leadership: distancing herself from the toxicity of her predecessors and trying to paint a fresh picture of what the Tories would do if they return to power.

"This is the first time in 26 years that youth unemployment in the UK is higher than the EU average," Badenoch tells delegates, after reflecting on how comparatively easy it was for her and her university peers to find work.

She says the answer is to start by cutting interest on student loans, and also to "move government out of the way so that businesses can create jobs".

Badenoch says businesses are being "held back in so many ways", blaming the planning, tax and energy systems.

"Less than one in four major planning applications is decided on time," she says.

Giving a demonstration of what she believes growth could look like, she says: "It looks like a pensioner doing their food shopping and realising they can afford a little bit more because lower energy prices mean cheaper food."

In turn, she says the pensioner will feel richer so go and meet people at a new cafe or restaurant - Badenoch says there would be more of these businesses if rates have been scrapped.

She adds that homes will cost less because they scrapped regulations that drive up building costs, "and yes, it’s time to finally build that third runway at Heathrow".

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

We are halfway into Kemi Badenoch's speech. After a personal critique of Reform's approach to the question of Britishness, we have arrived at the section on the economy.

'We'll cut your taxes, and Labour will raise them' seems to be the main message.

Badenoch also reveals her party have identified "over £70bn of savings". That looks like an extra £20bn on top of her proposals from last year.

Turning back to the economy, Badenoch continues by saying four in every five pounds borrowed by the government last year was spent on debt interest.

She adds: "That’s like taking out a second mortgage just to pay the interest on your first mortgage."

Badenoch emphasises the need to build a stronger economy, saying "no national security without economic security" and criticises Labour for making "a lot of promises".

Turning to the Conservatives plans, she says that in government her party would put half of savings towards "cutting the deficit", trimming it by "more than £35bn".

"It’s about building up protection for a rainy day, and leaving less of a mess for our children," Badenoch adds.

Badenoch now criticises a Green Party motion that declared Zionism a form of racism.

She says: "The Conservative Party stands with the Jewish people. We will never stop fighting antisemitism."

• For context: You can read more about the motion and the reaction it has sparked here

Badenoch now turns to Reform voters who she says "deserve better".

She says that many of them are "our people" who the Conservative Party has let down.

"We want them to come back home", Badenoch tells the conference.

She also declares that she will not do a deal with the party.

"I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, call veterans traitors, and debate whether my mixed-race children are English.

"I don’t want to explain to my son, when we’re watching our brilliant England team play football, that some people don’t think our black players are English," she goes on.

"We must not let these people take us backwards."

"I am black. I am British", she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

Badenoch could avoid mentioning Farage and Reform, but the party's problems with its finances seem too tempting.

She prompts a standing ovation by saying: "to those who say 'unite the right' we are not uniting with that".

And within minutes, party activists are up on their feet again to applaud another attack on Nigel Farage's party.