Kemi Badenoch has been on something of a roll. Week after week her PMQs performances have been getting sharper: holding Sir Keir Starmer and the government to account while trying to sketch out a distinctive pitch of her own – often by staking a claim to the economic battleground.
Yesterday was not necessarily her strongest outing. An unfortunate slip right at the very beginning saw her accuse Starmer of having floated an income tax rise “only to then U-turn on it all after the actual Budget”. The Budget, of course, is next Wednesday on 26th November. Still, she left Starmer refusing to rule out a freeze on income tax thresholds when pressed in the chamber.
Providing the official response to Rachel Reeves’ budget is a big moment for the leader of the opposition. Rishi Sunak, who bear in mind had been Chancellor himself, was said to have spent a huge amount of time swotting and preparing his response to Reeves last year – and that is having fought the election warning that, if Labour were to get in power, they would raise taxes. He was right and he was furious in his response. It showed and it was striking.
For Badenoch, this is one of the last big set-piece opportunities before the May local elections. Politics moves at an incredible pace and there may yet be more moments to come, but this one is firmly inked into the calendar: a rare chance to cut through with the public on a subject that matters hugely to them – their money.
As one MP put it to me: “It’s possibly her last opportunity to break out into the public consciousness.”
A shadow cabinet minister added: “A lot happens in politics but this is Kemi’s moment to really put it in the back of the net.”
Our latest ConHome survey shows a near-even split on whether members think the party can improve its fortunes at the 2026 locals. Despondency can be a real concern for political parties if membership thinks there is little point in volunteering because things won’t get better. It is why every moment Badenoch gets where both her members and the public are listening, she needs to make the most of – and then keep the momentum going.
The pressure is on. Hence the importance of PMQs as rehearsal. The economy was not Badenoch’s natural terrain to begin with, but through trial and error she has become noticeably more sure-footed. The trouble with Budgets, of course, is that – apart from all the leaks – you don’t get to see them in advance.
You need attack lines for every scenario, a grasp of the detail behind each policy and the capacity to spot the real story hidden in pages and pages of Treasury text. It requires agility and being on your toes. PMQs has been her training ground; the Budget response is her chance to prove she can make it her thing.
As one shadow cabinet minister told me: “With Reeves as your Chancellor, it should be easy enough to be opposite” – especially after so much kite-flying from the Treasury. Even if Labour stops short of raising income tax, freezing thresholds allows an easy retort: Reeves herself once warned such a move would “hurt working people” and breach the Labour manifesto.
Starmer is clearly feeling the pressure. In trying to discredit the Tories, he now manages to plug their conference announcement of a “golden economic rule” at almost every PMQs – insisting the Conservatives’ £47 billion of proposed spending cuts don’t really exist, despite an itemised list.
In a world where Labour trips over every fiscal announcement and Reform’s economic offer is a muddle constantly revised, the Tories know the economy is where their distinctive pitch lies. It is what voters care about: keeping more of what they earn in their pocket. Next week is Badenoch’s chance to make that case – and to do so while the country is actually listening.
