Kemi Badenoch MP delivers a rally in Solihull ahead of the 2026 Local Elections. Read her full speech below:
On Thursday, people up and down this country are going to be given a choice.
They can choose to vote for one of the many parties in Britain who are endlessly winging about what is wrong,
but who have not bothered to do the work to solve any of your problems. Parties who will cost you more, but deliver
less. Or they can vote for a party that will actually fix things. a party that
will do what it says it will do, the Conservative Party. [cheering]
[applause]
I want those people to know that they can vote for a new Conservative Party under new leadership. And over the last
six weeks, I've been traveling across Britain. I've been to Aberdeen, Pembrokeshire, Sunderland, Barnet,
Clapham, Essex. I've spoken to factory workers in the Black Country, people who start work at 3:00 a.m. putting the hours
in to make life better for themselves and their families. And I want to say to them that the Conservative Party is on your side. We are on your side.
Builders, farmers, veterans, we are on your side. All of the people who get out there, work hard, small business owners,
those people who are creating jobs. The Conservative Party is on the side of people who want to get on, people who are saving up to buy a home, moms and
dads who are trying to build a better life for their children. These are our people and we are fighting for them at this election. here in Solihull, all over Scotland and Wales, in London, in Essex,
in Swindon, in Sunderland, in Norfolk,
in Plymouth, everywhere the people have a vote. And each each Thank you. Yes.
Each and every one of those places needs a Conservative council because we are the only party that has a plan to
improve people's lives, a plan to get Britain working again. [cheering]
The alternative. [applause]
The alternative is grim. Here in the West Midlands, just look at what Labor is doing to our councils. Bin strikes in Birmingham that lasted over a year.
Rubbish piling up, food rotting in the streets, rats as big as cats. People learned that if you vote Labor, you get trash. Yeah. [cheering]
So,
here is our plan. We want hardworking people to be rewarded for their effort.
That means abolishing business rates so that most pubs, restaurants, and high street shops pay nothing. [applause]
It means our plan to take back our streets, deploying 10,000 extra police officers and giving them one clear
instruction. go out there and catch criminals.
Our new our new immediate justice sentences would force law breakers to clean up their graffiti, clean up our
streets, and clean up the mess that they are making in our parks. And they need to do it straight away. If they commit the crime, they pay the price.
[applause]
It means our cheap power plan. Our cheap power plan is cutting energy bills for families and businesses, helping
families to make ends meet, helping businesses across the country to make a profit. It means drilling in the North
Sea, getting our own oil and gas out of the ground at a time when global supplies are in peril. And [applause]
and it means and it means getting people moving again. How? By scrapping stamp duty on family homes.
We want to help those people who want to put down roots and start a family. So we have fully funded plans that will make
life better for people tomorrow. No other party does. But we can only fix these things if we are clear about what
we believe. Labor's problem is that after 14 years in opposition, they came into power without a single idea of how
to fix anything. They are now having a shadow leadership contest talking about what their party should stand for two
years into government. These people have no plan, but we do.
I want people to know the Conservative Party is not afraid to set out the standards, values, and be behaviors that
Britain expects and we are not afraid to enforce them either. I am not scared to
say out loud what I stand for. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to put the rights of ordinary people ahead of the
small minority making life a misery for everyone else. So,
so we are going to take back our streets. We're going to cut taxes for hardworking people and we will pay for
it by cutting the welfare bill, making sure that everyone who can work does work.
[applause]
Taxpayers are struggling enough without having to pay millions of people to sit at home doing nothing
with me. Ladies and gentlemen, you know what you get. I'm not going to be shouted down by left-wing hecklers creating a climate of fear and intimidation for Jewish people.
[applause] I'm not.
Last week in Golders Green and today in White Chapel, we've seen what happens if we fail. This country has been a
sanctuary for Jewish people for hundreds of years.
We want equality under the law for everyone and in particular protection for British Jews at this time.
[applause]
Thank you.
We only need to look around to see that we are the only serious party right now.
The only thing Labour seem to have a plan for is running businesses into the ground and sending unemployment through the roof.
Reform. A lot of people are talking about reform. Reform are running scared of the media. They know that there's
something fishy about Farage's 5 million pounds. They know there is. And in their councils, it's tax rises, chaos, and
confusion. In Worcestershire, they've increased council tax by 9%. We don't want to see the chaos reform have brought to Kent, Staffordshire, and
Worcestershire anywhere else. And the Lib Dems, what about the Lib Dems? They can't stand still for 5 minutes without
breaking into a conga. They can't. The Greens say yes to crack pipes and no to our brave police officers. No thanks.
None of these parties are serious. None of them has a plan to solve Britain's problems. And yet, these problems can be
fixed. They can be fixed, but you need the right team. And I have got that team nationally and locally. I am optimistic
about this country's future. I am optimistic for Britain because the Conservatives are coming back. We are coming back. [applause]
We're coming back for hardworking people. We're coming back to cut costs,
restore order, and get Britain working again. There is only one party that has the courage, the competence, and the
team to do this at every level of government. Whether it's a borough,
parish, district, county, a unitary council, we're the only ones. And this Thursday, every vote for the Conservatives counts. In five, six,
seven party politics, many elections are going to come down to fine margins. Every counselor that we get elected,
every council we run is somewhere we can start to deliver our plan, somewhere that we can show people that the Conservative Party has changed, that we
have listened, that we have learned from our mistakes, and we are ready to serve again.
[applause]
[applause]
So I say to everyone in this room and everyone who is watching, go out there and tell people, this is who we are.
This is who we are fighting for and this is how we will make life better where
you live. So let's get Britain working again. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
