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Welsh Conservative leader dubs Kemi Badenoch next Margaret Thatcher

16 May 2025 3 minute read
L: Kemi Badenoch – Image:Peter Nicholls/PA Wire / R: Margaret Thatcher – Image: Chris Collins of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Emily Price

The leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd has dubbed Kemi Badenoch the next Margaret Thatcher, branding her the “future of our nation”.

Speaking at the Welsh Conservative conference in Llangollen, Darren Millar said the “refrain on everybody’s lips” is for another Margaret Thatcher.

“I’m pleased to say that we’ve got one, and it’s my pleasure to be able to introduce you to her today,” he said.

“Kemi Badenoch is a woman of principle in an age where truth is words and courage is often compromises.

“She has always stood firm, she holds fast to her beliefs and our Conservative ideals.”

Polls

Some Conservative party figures believe Badenoch will need to show progress over the next year if she is to consolidate her position and avoid the threat of a leadership challenge.

A recent Ipsos poll put her personal approval rating as -26, which was well below both Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

Millar’s supportive words for the leader of the Conservative party came at the Welsh Tory party conference in Llandudno on Friday (May 16).

Millar admitted there was still “work to do” to rebuild trust ahead of the Senedd elections in May 2026.

Trust

Addressing the conference, he said: “In the aftermath of a general election defeat, it’s clear that we have got a lot of work to do to rebuild trust in our party’s fortunes and to restore those fortunes in Wales and beyond, and it’s essential we do that because under Labour Wales is broken.

“Our NHS isn’t working, our school standards have plummeted and our economy is struggling.”

He added that he had seen the opinion polls, with a recent one conducted by YouGov putting the party in fourth place with Plaid Cymru and Reform surging ahead.

But he insisted his was the only one that offered a “credible alternative” to Labour.

He said: “Like you, I’ve seen the opinion polls, I saw the recent council election results in England, but let me tell you something: a bad opinion poll does not discourage me.

“No, it motivates me. It makes me work harder and it makes me fight harder for the things that I believe in.”

‘Fewer’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch gave a speech to the conference too.

She quoted former Republican US president Ronald Reagan as she said the Conservatives may be “fewer in number than we’ve ever been” but “carry the message” the electorate is waiting for.

She added: “Let me finish, ladies and gentlemen, with the words of Ronald Reagan, who knew what it was like to lead a party out of the wilderness.

“We may be fewer in number than we’ve ever been but we are the ones who carry the message they’re waiting for, and there is no substitute for victory.”

Badenoch said she knew “the responsibility is on me” to deliver the party’s message which is “worth fighting for”.

She said: “Let us lift our heads. Let us get back to work. Let’s prove to people that doesn’t belong to Labour or to Reform, it belongs to us, if we have the courage to fight.”


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Rob
Rob
22 days ago

Comedy gold. Mr Millar really should consider a job at the Glee club down Cardiff Bay.
I’m no fan of Reform but the reason why they are becoming more successful in gaining support in Labour heartlands than the Conservatives has been is because they do not have the legacy of Thatcher.

Baxter
Baxter
22 days ago

Apart from S4C, can the Cons name one Thatcher policy that has survived the test of time?

Water privatisation – toxic rivers and beaches
Rail privatisation – worst railway in Europe
Global free trade – China holds all the cards
Financial deregulation – collapsed capitalism

Alwyn
Alwyn
22 days ago

Margaret Thatcher was the one who said ‘There’s no such thing as society’. As a result the young people of that generation are, with surpisingly few exceptions, more selfish, motivated by money rather than principles, and less prepared to help social and charitable organisations than their forefathers.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
22 days ago

Kemi Badenoch the next Margaret Thatcher lol. They said that about William Hague. Man’s a standup comedian. What next? The Edinburgh Festival. Those words will haunt Darren Millar as much as they did Andrew RT Davies with his “Wales needs a dose of Dom” quote in reference to the shady Dominic Cummings.

Garycymru
Garycymru
22 days ago

Lol, Thatcher off Temu.

Erisian
Erisian
22 days ago
Reply to  Garycymru

Brilliant! Temu trumps Pound-Shop anyday.
Still laughing

TJ Palmer
TJ Palmer
22 days ago

The caption on the picture should read Far Right and Further Right.

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
22 days ago

Delusional. Badenoch will never be Prime Minister on the grounds she will not even be the leader by the next election.

Daniel Pitt
Daniel Pitt
19 days ago

Because the people of Wales LOVED Maggot Thatcher…

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