The Conservative Party should not be written off yet, Kemi Badenoch has insisted.
The Tory leader also suggested her party faces a long, hard battle to return to power and prominence as she spoke at the Welsh Conservative Conference in Llangollen, where she was compared to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Conservatives in Wales are gearing up for next year’s Senedd elections, the first under a new proportional system.
Their policy platform includes a pledge to introduce a Welsh winter fuel payment to make up for the UK Government’s decision to means test the payment.
But the party faces an uphill battle to win seats in the Siambr, with a recent YouGov poll putting the Welsh Tories in fourth place on 13% at the next election, behind Plaid Cymru, Reform UK and Labour.
Mrs Badenoch was however insistent that her party had a route back to power.
She told the conference: “Conservative values still matter. Our country still needs us. But the path back will take time. There will be setbacks, but I am here to remind you that Conservatism is worth fighting for.”
She added: “People want to write us off, they want to say that we are out of the game because they forget that we are a party based on values. What we stand for must never, ever be lost.
“We stand for patriotism, for hard work, for responsibility, for freedom. That is worth fighting for.”
“The responsibility is on me,” she said. “Let us lift our heads. Let us get back to work. Let’s prove to people that doesn’t belong to Labour or to Reform, it belongs to us, if we have the courage to fight.”
As she spoke at the Welsh conference, Mrs Badenoch mistakenly referred to MSPs, Members of the Scottish Parliament, as she addressed an audience which included Members of the Senedd (MSs).
Welsh Tory leader Darren Millar said the “refrain on everybody’s lips” is for another Margaret Thatcher as he introduced Mrs Badenoch at the conference.
“I’m pleased to say that we’ve got one, and it’s my pleasure to be able to introduce you to her today,” he said.
Mr Millar has promised his party will have the “boldest” manifesto in next year’s elections.
Alongside the pledge of a winter fuel payment, the Welsh Conservatives also want to to cut the basic rate of income tax by 1p, fuelled through efficiency measures across government departments, while protecting health, schools and farming.
All road projects will be “unfrozen” and no new cycle lanes will be built until “roads are fixed”.
Mr Millar’s party will also pledge to reverse the expansion of the Senedd, which is due to increase to 96 members from 60 after the election.
The Llangollen conference is one of the last chances for the party to get together before the Welsh election next year.
