"The significance of this milestone should not, however, be overstated. Unlike the Labour party, the Conservatives do not really have an internal regime governed by rigid rules. The one-year grace period for a new leader is simply a rule adopted by the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, and they could dispose of it simply by changing their minds. In truth, Badenoch's leadership is in a sort of twilight zone."
"A good party conference in Manchester has done little to change this trajectory. It certainly staved off any immediate panic, but it didn't tell the Tories anything they didn't know already to wit, that Badenoch can use the spotlight to good effect when events point it at her. The much more important question was whether she had the ability or the appetite to win the spotlight in the modern media's fiercely competitive attention economy,"
Kemi Badenoch reached her first anniversary as leader, which opens a formal challenge under a 1922 Committee rule. The one-year grace period is an internal convention that the committee could change. Polling declined immediately after the leadership contest and collapsed after the local election rout in May. The Manchester conference improved optics briefly but failed to generate sustained media attention or momentum. The Conservatives fell off media radar in October and Reform UK overtook Conservative polling in January, followed by a sharper decline in subsequent months. The lack of sustained spotlight and falling polls create significant challenges for her leadership.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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