Tories only party with a plan, says Badenoch as she launches election campaign

"We are no longer going to try to please everyone all the time. We have learned many lessons. We have acknowledged and apologised for mistakes that were made on tax, on immigration, but we cannot leave our councils and our country in the hands of third-rate people who do not know what they are doing."

"The Conservatives are going into the local elections promising to exempt retail, hospitality and leisure firms in England from the business rates tax, up to an annual limit of 110,000 per year."

"I've got a message for shoplifters, phone thieves, violent thugs your days of getting off scot-free are numbered. On policing, Badenoch said she would put 800m into recruiting 10,000 new officers and promised to tell them their job is to catch criminals."

Kemi Badenoch launched the Conservative Party's local election campaign for May 7, when voters will elect representatives in 136 of England's 317 councils. Badenoch positioned the Conservatives as the only party capable of solving the country's problems, contrasting them with other parties she accused of failing to act. The party promises to cut the welfare bill, reduce business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure firms up to £110,000 annually, and recruit 10,000 additional police officers with £800 million funding. Badenoch acknowledged past Conservative mistakes on tax and immigration while asserting the party has learned lessons and possesses the competence to govern. She emphasized the Conservatives would no longer attempt to please everyone and would focus on catching criminals and addressing crime.

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