LIVE: Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat speak to voters at Tory Party conference

Tory leadership candidates Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch speak at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Kemi Badenoch is nothing if not confident. After enduring a bruising first day at the Conservative Party conference, in which she became embroiled in a self-inflicted row over whether she supports the principle of maternity pay, she came out fighting at a reception attended by her rivals last night. “Nice speeches, boys, but I think you all know I’m the one everyone’s been waiting for,” she said.

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For Badenoch’s hopes of winning the Tory leadership contest, today is critical. She will take centre stage this afternoon as she fields questions from party members over her vision and character.

Badenoch’s great strength is that activists regard her as someone who is willing to say what other politicians are afraid to. Her weakness is that, often, the reason politicians are afraid to say it is because it is wildly unpopular with voters.

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