Kemi Badenoch unfazed by Scottish Tories' dire Holyrood polling and dismisses Reform mass exodus

The UK Tory leader spoke to Scottish journalists in Edinburgh at the same time as Robert Jenrick dramatically defected from the Conservatives to Reform.

Mrs Badenoch said she did not expect a mass exodus of MPs and MSPs to follow Mr Jenrick out the door and join Reform - despite the man announced as the party’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, formally being a Tory minister.

A flurry of Scottish Conservative councillors along with MSP Graham Simpson have left the Tories for Mr Farage’s party. The defections have come as the Scottish Tories grapple with polls showing the party could lose at least half its MSPs in May, while some studies have suggested Reform could become the official opposition at Holyrood, finishing ahead of Labour and the Conservatives.

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One poll published yesterday forecast that the Scottish Tories could be left with just 12 MSPs after May’s election.

The UK Conservative leader refuted a claim that the “wheels have come off the bus”, arguing that she is turning around the fortunes of the Conservatives despite trailing Reform in UK and Scottish polling.

Mrs Badenoch sacked Mr Jenrick from the shadow frontbench and kicked him out of the Tory party due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible” to his Conservative colleagues. He later officially joined Reform.

Asked if she was expecting any more defections to Reform, Mrs Badenoch said that “it doesn’t really matter”.

She added: “If people are leaving the Conservative Party at the moment when we are on the up, it’s because they don’t belong in the Conservative party.

“The public are sick of psychodrama and politicians who are doing this for personal ambition. I want people to know what kind of leader I am and I am a kind of leader that is focused on the problems of the country, not on personal ambition.

“Getting the people who do not belong in your party out of the party is actually a good thing. Anyone who can even suggest that a person who was planning to harm and hurt his colleagues, leaving, is a bad thing, I think is not looking at the full picture.”

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Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay told journalists at Holyrood that Mrs Badenoch has demonstrated “strong, decisive leadership” by removing Mr Jenrick from his position.

Asked about the new Reform leader in Scotland, Mr Offord, Mrs Badenoch dismissed his influence, accusing him of being “all about himself”.

She added that she was “not worried about what he’s going to be doing in the Scottish elections.”

Mrs Badenoch added: “What I want people to know is what Russell will be doing.

“He’s going to be working for a stronger economy. We’re the only party that are opposing the nonsensical SNP Budget. Labour are abstaining - this is just not serious.

“This is about getting our country working again. The Conservative Party is the only credible party with ideas and a strong team to deliver that.”

Mrs Badenoch dodged questions over whether Mr Findlay had enough time to turn around his fortunes, as he braces for the Holyrood election poised to hand at least half of his seats to Reform, according to consistent polling.

She said: “Russell Findlay is exactly the kind of person I want to see standing up for Scotland.

“Russell Findlay is a man of integrity who fights for other people.”

Pressed over the dire polling for the Scottish Conservatives, Mrs Badenoch said: “I’m not interested in opinion polls. The only opinion polls that matter are elections.

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“What I’m telling people right now is that Russell Findlay is the best person to be running Scotland today.”

Asked how she can support Mr Findlay to turn things around, Mrs Badenoch said that “just being here and looking at the response we’ve had” is making a difference.

She added: “We’re talking to Scottish businesses who are saying that they are in crisis.”

Mrs Badenoch insisted that under her leadership, she is managing to claw back support from the public, lost at the 2024 general election. Some UK-wide polls have shown the Tories are closing the gap with Labour, with some studies putting the party in second place behind Reform.

She said that the “Conservative Party is on the up”.

Mrs Badenoch added: “I am turning our party around. I am changing it and it’s quite clear.

“People can see that the Conservative party is the only party that wants to get spending under control, the only party that has a credible plan for the economy.”

Asked about Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who was also visiting Scotland on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch claimed that he “has no idea what he’s doing or why”.

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Mrs Badenoch held a meeting with Mr Findlay’s Tory MSPs at Holyrood, which one Scottish Conservative source said was “warm”.

She also met For Women Scotland and nurse Sandie Peggie, who won part of her employment tribunal against NHS Fife over gender rights.

Ms Peggie took action against the health board after being forced to share a changing room at Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital with transgender doctor Beth Upton, with claims of harassment against her employer being upheld by the industrial tribunal.

“I had a fantastic conversation with Sandie”, Mrs Badenoch said.

“I think she is an admirable person who has been through hell and actually needs a win. I think that what has happened to her, and the way people have tried to malign her reputation has been terrible.

“We had a very, very good conversation with her and For Women Scotland on what more we can do.”