- Kemi Badenoch has etched her name in the record books, but for all the wrong reasons.
Under her leadership, the Conservative Party lost a staggering 676 council seats in the 2025 local elections, marking one of the party’s most devastating defeats in history.
The Tories lost control of all 16 councils where they previously held a majority.
In Kent County Council, the scale of the collapse was especially brutal, the Conservatives lost 57 seats, retaining just 5 out of 81, while Reform UK surged to take control.
Describing the outcome as a “bloodbath,” Badenoch issued a public apology to the unseated councillors, many of whom blamed the party’s national leadership and disconnect from grassroots concerns.
