The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has slammed Sir Keir Starmer after Labour’s latest “scandal” for “denying Britons democracy” after the government has postponed many mayoral elections.
Badenoch told GB News that Labour is “making a hash” out of local councils after postponing the elections in Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & Solent and Sussex & Brighton, accusing the government of not knowing “how to govern.”
The Tory leader was asked if she agrees with postponing the elections to “allow for the devolution to be done properly.”
Badenoch said, “I disagree, I think it is a scandal. This is yet another example of Labour not being ready for Government.
“This reorganisation is taking too long. I’ve been a local government minister and there have been situations where you needed to postpone a year, so we’ll have an extra year just so that we can be ready. This is now out of control.”
She slammed Labour for “denying Britons democracy,” adding, “They need to have these elections, and they should not be denying people democracy.
She was then asked if she believe the government is “scared” of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Badenoch said, “Well, they’re certainly running scared of a resurgent Tory party.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’ve still got a long way to go, but people are understanding what we stand for better. I’m taking the message out there.
But this is Labour, it’s probably more that they have just been a shambles, just like they’ve been in shambles with the last Budget, with everything that they have charged. These people don’t know how to govern.
“They came in off the back of us doing badly, rather than a groundswell of support for themselves. They weren’t ready, and now we see they’re making a hash of local Government reorganisation as well.
The Tory leader was then asked by GB News if there will be a Reform-Tory merger, she said, “I keep getting asked this and I say no each time – no, no, no, no. People need to understand what we stand for. We had a coalition with Liberal Democrats 2010 to 2015, look how that turned out.
“People felt that we weren’t Conservative enough.
“I’m not going into coalition with a party that wants to spend more on welfare. We are the party of fiscal responsibility. Labour, Lib Dems, Reform, Greens, Plaid, SNP, they all want to spend more on welfare.
“They’re all living in a fantasy land.”
Badenoch added, “We are living beyond our means. There’s only one party that’s going to get control of our economy and make sure that we actually grow, rather than we just become a country of benefits, that’s not right.
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