My party has seen difficult times – but with a few canny moves the leader is finally cutting through, and there are clear signs of recovery

Something is afoot. The bookies can feel it. “Badenoch overtakes Farage as favourite to be next prime minister,” was the word from betting website William Hill this week.

Let me tell you what is happening. This is a challenging political time. Even today, there is controversy for Kemi Badenoch to deal with. But as a Conservative it seems to me that in the past few tumultuous weeks, she has shown many of the qualities necessary in a party leader: to appear easy-going and humorous; to craft a style that teases her opponents rather than being snide or unkind; and to do this all confidently enough to leave sceptics thinking that she really could be the next prime minister.

Simon Hart was Conservative government chief whip from 2022 to 2024, and is the author of Ungovernable, the political diaries of a chief whip

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