Badenoch promises to 'get better' as Tory ratings slide

Kemi Badenoch has admitted she is still learning how to lead the Conservatives after seven months in the job, amid dire poll ratings for the party. The Tory leader said yesterday that it takes quite a while to learn how to do the job”.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Her admission comes a day after Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, promised she “will get better”, with the Conservatives tumbling in the polls and falling to fourth in a Scottish by-election on Thursday.

“She will get better through time at the media, she will get better through time at the dispatch box at PMQs,” Mr Stride said.

Asked about his comments yesterday, Ms Badenoch said: “People often assume that the minute you come into a job like being leader of the opposition, that you are ready to go.

“It actually takes quite a while to learn how to do the job, and what I have been saying is that every week it gets better and better. Every week I have more experience, and this is what every leader of the opposition has found from Margaret Thatcher to David Cameron.”