𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

“I have a Kemi crush,” came the rather breathless confession. “We all do”. The words – uttered by a female member of the shadow cabinet – have stuck with me ever since.

They were made at the beginning of this summer during a glitzy Conservative fundraiser I was attending. It was a lavish affair – themed to celebrate “British Heroes” – to help raise some much-welcome dosh for the party. Kemi Badenoch, dressed in a shimmering Boudica-inspired dress, was, unsurprisingly, the star of the show at the event inside London’s sumptuous Raffle’s Hotel, once the historic Old War Office.

Midway through the evening the Tory leader made time to speak to yours truly on her way round the grand ballroom where she was meeting and greeting wealthy party donors.

Moments after, the said shadow minister expanded on her admiration for her boss.

“She’s absolutely wonderful,” the married MP gushed. “She’s a great leader, speaks her mind and is so personable. I have a Kemi crush – that’s what I call it. We all do.”

Boudica was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire around 2,000 years ago.

She is considered a national heroine and a symbol of the struggle for justice and independence.

Kemi Badenoch, on the other hand, is fighting two battles for modern-day Britain. One to defeat a Labour Government which is lurching further to the Left under Andy Burnham and another major challenge to see off the right-wing populism of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

She’s faring pretty well so far, meticulously rebuilding the Conservatives from a crushing general election defeat two years ago.

There is still a long way to go – the Tories are currently in third place in the polls behind their main rivals – but there is enough hope within the party to suggest that a full recovery isn’t out of the question.

That was evident during this week’s party conference in Birmingham this week – the “Kemi crush” was in full cry. The Tory faithful are in love with her.

Unity was in the air and the party has bet the bank on their current leader.

So much so, Kemi even now calls herself the captain, coach and owner of the Conservatives.

She was everywhere this week, electrifying the conference and even showing up for a picture at the Express stand.

Earlier that day, over a coffee – she was actually drinking hot water with honey to soothe her throat – on the 22nd floor of the city’s Hyatt Regency hotel, she told myself and Express Editor Geoff Maynard that she is happy with the mood in the party.

But she admitted much more needs to be done to see off both Burnham and Farage.

Her big speech on Wednesday, in which she announced major promises to cut inheritance tax, has won many plaudits.

But politics doesn’t stand still for anyone and it’s back to the grind of Westminster next week.

The good news is that Zack Polanski won’t be there after losing out in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

But there’s a Budget coming up in just over fortnight which will define the Burnham Government for the rest of this parliament.

Talk of an early election hasn’t gone away either. I’m told, by senior Tory sources, that they were expecting the Prime Minister to call one during his conference speech in Liverpool.

“We thought our conference would be shaped by responding to that,” they said.

It never materialised which meant the bottles of “Bottler Burnham” water were on full show.

But many believe that a national vote will come sooner rather than later.

If so, one of the questions from the Daily Express pub quiz – held annually at both the Tory and Reform conferences – may need to be updated.

How many Prime Ministers has Larry the Downing Street cat lived under?