'Vote Labour, get trash,' warns Kemi Badenoch as she admits local elections will be 'extremely difficult' for Tories

20 March 2025, 12:49

Kemi Badenoch has warned that voters will "get trash" if they choose Labour in the local elections as she admitted it will be "extremely difficult" for the Tories.

Speaking at the launch of the Tories' local election campaign, Ms Badenoch said the Conservatives would lose "every single" council it won in 2021 if the general election results were mapped onto the coming local poll.

While she said the party would likely "do a bit better than that", she added that she knows "that these elections will be extremely difficult".

Ms Badenoch went on to attack Labour's record in Government and town halls, claiming: "If you vote Labour, you get trash."

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She pointed to the bin strikes in Labour-run Birmingham, as well as measures taken by the Government like the inheritance tax on farms.

"I was in Birmingham at the weekend," Ms Badenoch said. "Labour has run it into the ground bins, not collected rubbish piling high everywhere.

"They have a one billion pound black hole in their budget now. They've hiked council tax by 21 per cent over two years and cut services, all while Labour councillors gave themselves a pay rise.

"So I say to all of you watching, don't let Labour do that to your council."

She went on to say: "We are the only credible choice: Lib Dems will wreck your public services, Reform has no experience running anything, Greens will run councils into the ground and Labour will spend, tax and waste your money, just like they always do."

In a rallying call to Tory campaigners, Ms Badenoch said: "As I said earlier, these elections will be tough, but we are up for the fight.

"We are building a gold-standard campaign machine, but we need you and all our brilliant volunteers and supporters to get out and help. Every leaflet, every conversation, every vote counts."

In a veiled criticism of Nigel Farage, the Tory leader said politics is "not showbusiness".

Asked what the ideological difference between the Tories and Farage's Reform UK is, Ms Badenoch said: "One of the things which I've been saying quite frequently - and I did in my speech on Tuesday when I launched our policy renewal programme - was that we don't just make announcements, we have a plan."

She said "people have lost trust in politics because politicians make promises and don't deliver".

"We also fell foul of that from time to time, and what I'm saying now is the Conservative Party is under new leadership," Ms Badenoch added.

"This is not showbusiness. This is not a game. This is about people's lives. This is not for us. It is for all those people out there who need credible politicians. That is what we're offering."

She said she would not step down from her role if her party suffers important losses in May's local elections.

The Lib Dems have described the launch as a "desperate attempt to shore up the crumbling Conservative vote".

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "The first brick in the blue wall came tumbling down in Buckinghamshire in the Chesham and Amersham by-election.

"Now Kemi Badenoch is back there in a desperate attempt to shore up the crumbling Conservative vote as people in the home counties turn to the Liberal Democrats.

"Whilst Kemi's Conservatives compete with Reform in their policy agenda, the Liberal Democrats are focused on delivering for residents on issues including the cost of living, sewage in our rivers and the emergency in our NHS and care.

"Voters in Buckinghamshire and across the country haven't forgiven the Conservatives for all the damage they've done. Badenoch will hear the very same if she knocks on doors today.

"Voters have a clear choice in May, and across the country, including in Buckinghamshire, they are turning to the Liberal Democrats as community champions who will stand up for them."