'Kemi Badenoch should do this 1 thing if she wants to beat Reform and Labour'

Kemi Badenoch should champion nature in a bid to take on Labour and Reform, green conservatives have said. The Tories need to prioritise farming, water pollution planning regulations and wildlife restoration to win voters, a report by the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) said.

Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at the CEN, said: “Labour’s policies are threatening nature and our English countryside, whilst destroying the family farms that steward this land. Meanwhile, Reform is refusing to recognise the decline of England’s countryside and has advocated for the return of the much-maligned EU subsidy system. Since Reform and Labour do not understand the value of our green and pleasant land, Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party should seek to claim the mantle of the party of the natural environment and farming.

"As Kemi continues her process of conservative renewal, this paper offers truly conservative narratives and approaches to nature policymaking for her to embrace.”

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice rejected findings that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

Species have declined by about 19% since 1970 and nearly one in six are currently threatened with extinction, largely because of habitat loss, intensive land management, pollution and climate change.

But in an interview with the Daily Express at his party’s conference, he said: “Why do you think the UK is one of the most nature-dependent places? You look at our countryside, look at the environment, it's incredible. It's absolutely remarkable.”

When asked whether it could be better, he said: “We can always improve on everything we do. That's called progress."

It was put to him that species had declined or disappeared, but he said: “Dinosaurs disappeared. That's what's called evolution, and yeah, there's areas where we can be … but there are many areas where actually there's no point making the British people poorer in order to try and protect the odd bird species that may or may not be in decline for other reasons.”

CEN said its paper, backed by three former environment secretaries and the current Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins, provides a roadmap for the Conservative Party to tackle Britain’s most pressing environmental challenges in a truly conservative and pragmatic way.

Danny Kruger, who defected to Reform UK this week, said: "Conservatism is a covenant between past, present and future generations.

"At its heart lies the instinctive love of home that compels us not only to protect but to enhance the inheritance we pass on. This paper makes clear that our natural inheritance – our countryside, our wildlife, our landscapes – is every bit as important as our cultural and economic inheritance.

“Nature has been diminished, but as England’s stewards, it is our duty to restore it."

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