With the Tories slipping into third place in the polls, Badenoch called on party staff to raise their game.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told Conservative party workers in an all-staff call that they needed to ‘do better’.
Talking to the BBC’s Chris Mason, Badenoch said: “I believe that everyone who works for the Conservative Party needs to be fully dedicated to the mission.
“If we feel there are people who are doing a great job we will tell them – and when they aren’t, we will do the same.”
She added: “We need to make sure that we have good feedback”.
Badenoch defended her management style in the interview, stating that leadership “isn’t just about telling everybody how great they are”.
“Quite frankly, one of the things we are seeing in this country is millions of people out of work and not enough people pulling their socks up and getting back on their feet.
“We need sometimes to have tough words when people aren’t doing well and words of praise when they are doing well. That’s exactly what I did.”
A YouGov poll released this week revealed that Reform UK is on 25% of the vote, Labour is on 24%, and the Conservatives are in third on 21%.
Another YouGov poll conducted in December 2024 found that 68% of Brits and 49% of Conservative voters in 2024 do not think the Tories are ready for government.
In terms of Brits’ views on Badenoch, 53% do not believe she looks like a prime minister in waiting and 37% said she is doing badly as Conservative leader.
Badenoch’s own performance has come under scrutiny, with critics accusing her of performing poorly at PMQs and in media interviews, and failing to set out clear policies for the Tories.
The Conservatives are also trying to prevent losing high-profile Tory donors to Reform UK, after former Conservative donor Bassim Haidar and Mohamed Amersi attended a Reform fundraiser last week.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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