Badenoch accuses Labour of having U-turned on various measures, including jury trials and inheritance tax, and says their policy shifts have been thanks to her team.

She then praises the Conservatives' by-election win in Scotland, saying: "The people heard us". She also warns about "separatists" running Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and says the Conservatives will "fight properly for our union".

Badenoch then says the Conservatives are back, and are "going to win" - not for the party but for "every hardworking person out there" and for "everyone who wants to see common sense restored".

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer is a central character (and political punchline) in both the video that preceded Badenoch's entrance, and in her big speech.

"Keir Starmer. Remember him?" prompts laughter in the hall, but three months on from his departure Badenoch knows she needs to set out a clearer critique of Andy Burnham.

Image source, PA Media

The Conservative leader also pays tribute to former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe, who she says was "never afraid to speak her mind".

She also speaks of Conservative politician and author Jeffrey Archer, who died earlier this week.

She says he was a "brilliant author and a dear friend to the Conservative Party... and to me".

Image source, PA Media

The Conservative leader goes on to say the world is becoming "more dangerous".

She says: "We are running out of money and running out of time to put it right."

Badenoch tells the party conference that too many people have been going the "wrong way", before adding: "We are the ones going the right way."

Badenoch takes aim at the government, who she says believe "economic growth is created by politicians".

She says their ideas "will make every single person in this country poorer" - this receives loud applause from the room.

"Your taxes will be higher. Your bills will go up. You will find it harder and harder to make ends meet," she continues, and just "because these ideas are delivered on TikTok doesn't make them any less dangerous than they have always been".

The Conservatives are on the other side of the battle, she continues, and believe "what people earn belongs to them, not government".

"Spending money we don't have on things we cannot afford is not kind, it is reckless."

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

The start of this speech is an attempt to set out a contrast between the Conservatives under Badenoch and Labour under Burnham.

Badenoch compares what she says is a "renewed" Tory party "fighting again for the belief that what people earn belongs to them not government" with a Labour Party returning to the "failed ideas of the past".

However it is the contrast between her party and Nigel Farage's Reform UK which is arguably a more urgent concern. For almost two years opinion polls have suggested voters on the right prefer the latter.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Conservative Party conference

That was quite the entrance. A lengthy standing ovation for Kemi Badenoch before she has said a word.

Image source, PA Media

Kemi Badenoch is welcomed to the stage with applause and cheers.

She begins by saying "there is a fight coming in British politics" the likes of which has not been seen "for more than half a century".

She calls it a "battle of ideas" that goes "to the very core of who we are".

Kemi Badenoch has now taken to the stage and is beginning her speech.

As a reminder, you can watch live at the top of the page - we'll also bring you the key lines.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Conservative Party conference

I’ve not seen this “cavalcade of stars” approach ahead of the leader’s speech before, with the shadow cabinet introduced by name.

It must be slightly nerve racking for them.

Shadow housing secretary Katie Lam got the biggest cheer.

Image source, Reuters

Kemi Badenoch will shortly deliver her speech at Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, as delegates have just sung the national anthem.

Tap watch live to follow along at the top of the page. We'll also bring you the key lines right here.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent at Conservative Party conference

Kemi Badenoch has seemed upbeat at this conference, but she knows her party is lagging behind Labour and Reform UK in the opinion polls.

If the PM calls a snap general election (and Andy Burnham insists he won’t), there is a chance the Conservatives could lose their position as the official opposition and be pushed into third place in Parliament.

Last year’s conference speech helped quieten Badenoch’s internal critics. Now she needs an external pitch: persuading voters on the right that she’d be a better prime minister than Nigel Farage.

We’re expecting Badenoch to continue her pitch for a smaller state and further tax cuts, with speculation she may announce changes to (or even an axing of) inheritance tax.

There is speculation that Kemi Badenoch could propose changes to inheritance tax during her speech this morning, here are where the rules stand:

Everyone can pass on £325,000 tax-free after they die. This is known as the "nil-rate band".

Most people are also entitled to an additional £175,000 tax-free allowance if they pass on the family home to their children or grandchildren - known as the "residence nil-rate band".

Married couples and civil partners can combine these tax-free allowances, meaning many couples can pass on an estate worth up to £1 million to their children or grandchildren before inheritance tax is due (£325,000 + £175,000 + £325,000 + £175,000).

There are some caveats. For example, the residence nil-rate band starts to "taper" (or reduce) once the value of your estate exceeds £2 million.

No inheritance tax is due when assets pass between married couples or civil partners.

• For context, property, possessions and money that exceed these allowances are taxed at 40% - this is only charged on the part of the estate that lies above the threshold

Conservatives polling higher than last year - but still below 2024 resultpublished at 11:01 BST 7 October

11:01 BST 7 October

By Daniel Wainwright

The Conservatives are polling better than they were a year ago, but their current support remains below the share of votes the party won at the 2024 general election.

That was the picture outlined by polling expert John Curtice at a fringe event at the party conference in Birmingham on Monday - and BBC Verify’s analysis of the latest data indicates the same.

The Conservatives won about 24% of the vote across Great Britain in 2024, their worst result at a general election. By September 2025, our poll tracker put them on about 17% on average.

The latest average is around 19%. That still leaves Kemi Badenoch’s party in third place, behind Labour on 28% and Reform UK on 23%.

Polls are estimates rather than exact measures and polling companies warn that a party’s true level of support can be a few points higher or lower than the figure reported.

So while Labour leads the polling average, the gaps between the parties could be narrower - or wider - than they appear.

Image source, PA Media

With Kemi Badenoch due to deliver her keynote speech today, here's a reminder of what we've heard from the Conservative Party conference so far:

• In her opening speech on Sunday, Badenoch said her party would "win the next election" and needed to "be ready from day one"
• She also pitched herself to the BBC as a "classic old-school Conservative"
• Speaking on Monday, shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith promised to cut one tax every year if the Conservatives return to power, including the so-called "mansion tax" that's due to take effect from 2028 on homes worth more than £2m in England
• Griffith also said "lower, simpler and fairer taxes" would be his "personal north star" although he noted his ambition for cuts would take place "only when we can afford to do so"
• On Tuesday, shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge announced the party's plans for the "Britannia Shield" air defence system - with a pledge to invest £10bn into the programme. He said it would be "one of Britain's most significant military programmes since the Cold War"
• Speaking to the BBC from the conference on Tuesday morning, Badenoch insisted the system could be paid for, with her party having already set out areas where the savings would come from, including the welfare budget

Image source, EPA

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been pictured arriving at the conference venue this morning alongside her husband, Hamish.

Badenoch will deliver a keynote speech shortly, where she is expected to commit her party to a "battle for the soul of the nation".

The speech comes on the final day of the party's four-day conference in Birmingham.

Image source, EPA

Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart says finding public savings and using them to cut taxes and the deficit would allow the country to enter a "virtuous cycle".

He told Radio 4's Today programme this morning that the current government borrowing situation is "very, very serious", with the cost of borrowing "higher now than it's been at any point since 1998".

"We have to clamp down on that," he said.

Half the savings the Tories have pledged to find would go into "getting the deficit down" while the other half would go into tax cuts to "get the economy moving".

Pushed on whether tax cuts will simply give the Tories less money to spend, Burghart called this a "classic misunderstanding", adding that cutting taxes in a way that promotes growth would mean "more jobs".

Asked about speculation the Conservatives are planning to cut inheritance tax, he said: "We haven't made any announcement on inheritance tax; there's been a lot of press speculation."

He said leader Kemi Badenoch would "love to get rid of it" but "we're not going to do anything we can't afford", adding she has asked shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith and his team to see "what's possible and when".

Badenoch has cemented her image, now she wants to put party back on the big stagepublished at 10:24 BST 7 October

10:24 BST 7 October

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Image source, Getty Images

The 2026 Conservative conference is big enough to justify using Birmingham's Symphony Hall as its main stage again.

So, Kemi Badenoch will tread the same stage ageing rockers Marillion took last month - and where sequinned soprano Katherine Jenkins will perform next week.

The party is able to put bums on seats again - and by that measure, things are looking up.

Badenoch goes into the conference with her own position secure in the party.

One senior Tory says "she has actually defied cynics like me" who initially disapproved of her leadership.

Her standing with the public has improved and she is now, again on a very simple but crucial measure, much better known.

But Conservative MPs are aware that the party itself still has a much bigger issue - in the words of one shadow cabinet member: "The problem we still have is trust of the party and the brand".

• Read Laura Kuenssberg's full analysis here

Brian Wheeler
Political reporter at Conservative Party conference

The mood among Tory activists this week has been upbeat – they love their leader and freely admit that she is more popular than the party right now.

The fringe meetings have been packed out but, overall, the conference feels more sparsely populated than when the Conservatives were in government.

There was an awkward moment on Monday when surprise guest Jeremy Clarkson joked that some people had come dressed as empty seats.

This tends to happen at conferences this far out from a general election, and many of the corporate lobbyists that used to be here in their thousands have stayed at home.

There are quite a few young Conservatives around the place, however.

Image source, PA Media

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Kemi Badenoch is expected to say there is a "battle of ideas" looming in British politics, as she delivers her keynote party conference speech this morning.

Rounding off the four-day Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, she is expected to pitch the next general election as a "battle for the soul of the nation".

The Conservatives have unveiled a flurry of policy announcements in recent days, as Badenoch strives to reframe the way the public views her party, which has yet to recover in the polls since the last election.

This has included pledging to halve employer National Insurance for workers aged 21-24, and scrapping the so-called mansion tax that's set to kick in from 2028.

There is also speculation Badenoch could propose changes to inheritance tax today.

Earlier this week, shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith pledged to scrap at least one tax every Budget if the Conservatives return to power.

We'll bring you the latest developments throughout the morning - stick with us.