Tory conference latest: Badenoch says maternity pay comment 'misrepresented'; Sunak warns party to stop 'squabbling' (2024)

Key points
  • Badenoch says maternity pay comments have been 'misrepresented'
  • Jenrick criticises Badenoch|But Cleverly won't attack rival
  • Rishi Sunak delivers farewell speech
  • Tories gather for party conference - mood is like 'things aren't as bad as the numbers suggest', writes Sam Coates
  • Catch up on today's interviews with the Tory leadership candidates on Sky News
  • 'I am so ashamed': MP quits Labour and hits out at Starmer|But minister defends the government
  • Serena Barker-Singh:Duffield's letter is savage - and the most scathing remarks are reserved for the PM
  • Live reporting by Ben Blochand (earlier)Tim Baker
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  • Tax rises:What might go up|How council tax could change|What chancellor could do to pensions

20:40:22

That's all for Politics Hub today

Thanks for following along with us on the first day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

You can scroll through today's highlights in the page below, and check back on the Sky News website for all the very latest.

We'll be back tomorrow morning for more of the action.

20:12:31

Jeremy Hunt 'not endorsing' a leadership candidate

ByJennifer Scott, political reporter in Birmingham

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, spoke to Sky News after trying to rally his party at a fringe event here in Birmingham.

He said the conference was about "counteracting the negativity we’ve had from Labour".

Hunt said: "It is no way to run a country. You’ve got to get out there and bang the drum.

"We’ve seen business confidence plummet and it’s a big mistake.

"You’ve got to stop campaigning and get on with taking the difficult decisions."

Asked if he had a feeling who would be next to lead the party, he stayed non partisan, saying: "I am not going to endorse anyone. I’m standing back."

During his speech, he urged members to keep up their support for the Tories.

"No one should ever give up on the Conservative Party and Margaret Thatcher would never have contemplated giving up on our party as the only serious engine for change."

18:18:35

Badenoch claims maternity pay remarks were 'misrepresented'

Kemi Badenoch has now walked back her comment this morning in which she suggested maternity pay was "excessive".

Speaking to Sky News this afternoon in Birmingham, the Tory leadership candidate said she believed it was a good thing", adding: "I don't think it is excessive."

Instead, she claimed there was "some mischief being made on social media trying to misrepresent me" amid the race to take over from Rishi Sunak.

"I want to talk about serious things, hard truths during this campaign," said the leadership hopeful. "I want to talk about my previous job as business secretary, what businesses told me [about] excessive business regulation.

"Maternity pay isn't one of those, but other things are. That is how we are going to get back on track."

In an interview with Times Radio this morning, Badenoch was asked if the UK had the right level of maternity pay, she said it varies depending on who you work for but statutory maternity pay is "a function of tax".

She added: "Tax comes from people who are working, we're taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive."

Read more:

18:13:15

Analysis: Sunak offers advice amid 'increasingly venomous' leadership contest

By Rob Powell, political correspondent in Birmingham

Among the glut of leadership contender 'merch' being hawked around Tory conference, there was one item hailing from a contest of yesteryear.

A lone delegate wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with 'Ready for Rishi' – the slogan from Rishi Sunak’s ultimately doomed campaign against Liz Truss.

Just over two years later and the former prime minister is bidding farewell to members with a defence not of the catastrophic election result (is that possible?) but of the Tory’s wider record since 2010.

Addressing a drinks reception for the party faithful, Sunak was met by grateful, genuine but somewhat mediocre applause.

On a couple of occasions, pitying sounds of 'awwww' emerged from the crowd, when the outgoing leader spoke of his imminent departure.

Sunak cited achievements including the fiscal strategy adopted by David Cameron, equal marriage, Brexit, keeping Scotland in the union and Michael Gove’s education reforms.

Beyond referencing the Tory achievement of electing the first three female prime ministers, there was no direct mention for Liz Truss or Theresa May.

He said any of the four leadership contenders would make a better PM than Sir Keir Starmer, but also punted out a hint at his preference by emphasising the party’s compassionate nature.

And we got a diagnosis of the core reason why the July election was lost – "when we turn in on ourselves we lose and the country ends up with a Labour government".

Sage advice that may nevertheless be tough to follow, as the rumbling leadership contest appears to become increasingly venomous.

17:44:53

Rishi Sunak says 'sorry' for election loss and issues warning to party

The conference is very much a beauty parade for the four Tory leadership candidates, but Rishi Sunak is notionally still in charge of the party.

In a farewell speech to party members in Birmingham, the former prime minister thanked them for having "worked tirelessly during the election campaign".

"You are not only the backbone of our country, our party, but our communities too," he said.

Sunak added: "I am only sorry that your efforts could not deliver the results you deserved."

He also said the party had to "learn the lessons" of the defeat as it they "did not get everything right in office".

Sunak also issued a warning to the party to get behind whoever replaces him.

"Whoever wins this contest give them your backing," he said. "We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling."

"We must not nurse old grudges," Sunak said. "When we turn in on ourselves, we lose."

17:02:46

'We don't want women to be seen as token'

By Jennifer Scott, political reporter in Birmingham

On the busy conference floor, the Conservative Women's Association are seeking to get the attention of the Tory leadership candidates.

Speaking to those running the stand, they are worried about the male dominance in the last election campaign, and the number of "fantastic women who lost their seats".

"We don't want women to be seen as token," one told me. "They need to be in the room... and at the heart of policy."

The organisation has created a pledge they are calling for all four candidates to sign, publicly displaying it with pens at the ready.

It would see Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat promise to "deliver and support greater representation of women in all parts of the party" - including as MPs and councillors - and commit them to "giving [women] a voice in policy development".

We'll keep an eye on the pledge to see if anyone signs up...

16:30:02

Tory leadership contest shows striking lack of focus on issues that cost party the election

Four contenders and the biggest platform of the year to make their case to be leader of the opposition.

Welcome to the Conservatives' annual conference in Birmingham - a four day job interview in the glare of the spotlight, with the axe falling on two of the four candidates in just 10 days when MPs vote to narrow them down again.

It is a conference like no other. Rishi Sunak is leader in name only and certainly not providing direction: this is the first Tory conference without a leader's speech since 1963 - when Harold Macmillan was in hospital with suspected prostate cancer.

Yet it does not feel like a gathering of a party that just suffered an existential election defeat less than 100 days ago. This conference - with multiple overflow tents covering as big a footprint around the Birmingham conference centre than I can remember - shows none of the shrinkage often seen in some opposition conferences.

There's a similar perhaps delusionally bullish vibe among MPs and defeated candidates, who are lapping up the short termtempest faced by Sir Keir Starmer's governmentand display a belief the gap back to power may not be as big as they feared mere weeks ago.

16:15:02

Jenrick: Failure of Johnson government to reform planning system 'biggest public policy mistake'

ByJennifer Scott, political reporter at Tory conferencein Birmingham

The failure of Boris Johnson's government to push through planning reforms was the Conservatives' "biggest public policy mistake", Robert Jenrick has claimed.

The former housing secretary, who was fired by Mr Johnson after a number of controversies, said he was "proud of my record" in office.

But he said the rebellion of backbench MPs that led planned policy changes to be watered down - and housing targets scrapped - impacted homes and jobs.

Speaking at a fringe event, he said: "The decision not to proceed or proceed in full with those reforms was probably the biggest public policy mistake of the last parliament.

"And I think Boris himself would probably accept that it cost people their jobs, it cost people their GDP and most importantly it cost us homes that young people desperately need in this country.

"I want this party to be the party of homeownership again."

He pledged to focus on "densification and regeneration" if he got into power, focusing on urban areas, rather than rural ones.

16:00:02

Exclusive: Former deputy PM interviewed in election day betting probe

By Jon Craig, chief political correspondent

Former deputy prime minister Sir Oliver Dowden has become the most senior ally of Rishi Sunak to be interviewed in the official investigation into betting on the date of the general election, Sky News understands.

He follows Mr Sunak's former parliamentary aide Craig Williams and former Downing Street chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith in being questioned by the Gambling Commission, the statutory body that regulates betting in the UK.

Mr Sunak has not yet been interviewed, Sky News understands, though "numerous people" including Conservative Party officials have been.

The inquiry - launched in June - is set to continue for another three to six months.

News of Sir Oliver's interview, along with the seizing of "hundreds of documents" from Tory HQ by the commission, has emerged on the day the Conservative Party Conference opened in Birmingham.

Sir Oliver was knighted and Mr Booth-Smith was awarded a peerage in the former prime minister's dissolution honours, announced less than an hour before the polls closed on 4 July.

The commission is investigating whether bets were placed on a July election by people with inside knowledge - in breach of gambling rules - in the days leading up to Mr Sunak's shock announcement of the election date on 22 May.

A source told Sky News: "The general election betting investigation is still ongoing. Hundreds of documents have been seized by the Gambling Commission from CCHQ.

"The Gambling Commission has also employed more ex-police as investigators to take the case forward. It's expected the case will continue for three to six months."

Asked if Mr Sunak has been interviewed, the source said: "I don't believe so. Numerous people have been interviewed, in and out of CCHQ.

"Gambling Commission investigators have made numerous visits to CCHQ. Oliver Dowden was interviewed."

A source close to Sir Oliver said the former senior cabinet minister is not and was never under investigation himself.

It is understood Sir Oliver spoke to the police to assist with their inquiries as part of their investigation into others. This is said to have taken place in early summertime and the officers involved were part of the Gambling Commission.

Sky News has approached Mr Dowden and the Conservative Party for comment.

15:52:07

Jenrick would bring back winter fuel payment for all pensioners, he tells Sky News

ByJennifer Scott, political reporter at Tory conferencein Birmingham

Robert Jenrick would bring back winter fuel payments for the richest pensioners, he has told Sky News.

Asked during an interview at the Tory conference whether the most well off should get the benefit, the leadership contender focused on those just missing out, calling it "shameful" older people earning £13,000 per year would no longer get the sum after a decision by the Labour government.

But pushed by Sky News over whether he would bring back the payment for the richest in society, he said: "I would do.

"Of course you have to be cautious when introducing a universal benefit [but] sometimes it's actually challenging to successfully means-test benefits and sometimes more expensive.

"I think if Alan Sugar wants to donate his winter fuel payment to charity, he is free to do that.

"I don’t want to see a poor pensioner on £13,000 a year losing [£300] this autumn and winter. I think that is wrong."

Tory conference latest: Badenoch says maternity pay comment 'misrepresented'; Sunak warns party to stop 'squabbling' (2024)

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