Party conference will be more upbeat than last year, Tories say – but that’s not the whole story

The forthcoming Conservative conference in Birmingham, starting on Sunday, is expected to be notably more upbeat and unified than last year, according to party members. However, some Conservative MPs caution that the improved mood may be overhyped given the party's current standing in the polls.

One Conservative MP remarked, "The mood is better but the facts are still very poor. We are still a distant third in the polls, and if there was an election tomorrow we would lose, and badly. That means the mood is overhyped." This sentiment casts a shadow over the gathering, as the party continues to poll lower than it did in 2024, when it faced a disastrous election outcome.

Kemi Badenoch, who has been party leader for almost two years, is perceived to be performing well. However, there are concerns regarding her strategy to regain support from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which may alienate more centrist voters. A shadow minister expressed, "We need to be attracting as many voters who left us for the Lib Dems as Reform, and I don’t personally think we have got the balance right."