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, Barnaby 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.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Conservative Party conference

Badenoch’s personal attack on “weird” Reform politicians and the declaration that she will never unite with Nigel Farage’s party goes down very well with Tory activists.

It's one standing ovation after another.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

Kemi Badenoch's attacks on Andy Burnham focus on the now-PM's time in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet.

"He was the shadow home secretary nodding along to a man who wanted to take the UK out of NATO give up our nuclear deterrent and even disband our army", she says.

Badenoch also questions the PM's competence on public spending, and argues that Burnham's plan for a national care service includes "sums that do not add up".

Squaring up against a new prime minister who is enjoying a honeymoon in the opinion polls is tricky for any opposition leader. Badenoch tackles this political puzzle using some light-hearted derision: "Don't let this man fool you with his fluttering eyelashes and his pork scratchings."

Badenoch moves on to speak about the prime minister, saying he "doesn't have a clean slate".

She tells the conference Andy Burnham was happy to serve in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet, but "couldn't wait" to take Keir Starmer's leadership from him after Labour's 2024 victory.

The party leader makes a dig at No 10 North, before calling Burnham "willfully ignorant" of the lessons of the past.

She calls the possibility of reopening the Brexit debate a "terrible idea" and criticises the contents of his Labour conference speech, before commenting on him saying he plans to delay his biggest plans until after the next election.

"He's not going to be prime minister after the next election, not if I have anything to do with it."

Image source, EPA

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

Badenoch is wisely setting out her successes as opposition leader: holding the Labour government to account on everything from Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador, to tax policy for farmers and reforms to jury trials.

The Tory leader's role at the dispatch box, and her weekly jousts at Prime Minister's Questions, is at the heart of her pitch.

But her allies are privately clear that losing that place - and the opportunity to ask the PM six questions a week - is a very real possibility if Reform remain more popular on the right of British politics.

Badenoch says she is building a "united team", motivated by "public service, not self-service".

Pointing back to 2024, she says voters gave their verdict on the party's rows, but "all that drama" is gone.

"We have had an export boom of drama queens going to Reform," she says, to laughter and applause.

This Tories are now the "no-nonsense party", she says, going on to praise her team such as shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat and shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith.

She reflects on attending the Marks & Spencer's catwalk show a few weeks ago.

"M&S is back in fashion" she says. "Just like M&S, we must learn from our mistakes, win back trust and make people feel good about our party again."

Image source, PA Media

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the Conservative conference

The first standing ovation of the speech comes as Badenoch declares “we are going to win” for everybody who wants to see the country reunited.

She also gets a laugh for talking about the “export boom in drama queens” to Reform.

Image source, EPA