Welsh Conservative leader dubs Kemi Badenoch next Margaret Thatcher

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.”