Kemi Badenoch not only delivered the speech of the 2025 conference season, she delivered the best one for many a year. While Keir Starmer’s was a policy-free blancmange last week, the Tory leader delivered a tour de force laden with new pledges.
By announcing plans to abolish Stamp Duty, Mrs Badenoch has made a big statement. It is a hugely damaging tax and getting rid of it will be hugely popular among voters. The Tory faithful who packed out the main hall in Manchester’s conference centre loved it.
And they loved what they heard from the under-pressure leader.
Showing humility, humour and passion, Mrs Badenoch appeared to win over the hearts and minds of many Conservatives.
Jokes about Peter Mandelson, Rachel Reeves and Nigel Farage were genuinely funny and well-measured.
And she teed up the headline announcement with a personal story about getting the keys to her first ever flat.
With a performance like that, she surely must have quashed any thoughts from those in the party who want to replace her as leader – for now.
A blizzard of policies on borders, welfare, immigration, policing and sentencing were much needed.
But will they resonate with the public? Was this the big bazooka she and her party desperately needs?
The Tories and Mrs Badenoch are languishing in the polls, generally 16 points behind Reform UK.
There will inevitably be a bounce from the four days in the capital of the North and she will have kept the vultures at bay for now.
How high and how long that bounce is remains to be seen.