Conservative Party nearly ran out of money, says Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch said the Conservative Party nearly ran out of money when she took over as leader, following their worst-ever election defeat.

Badenoch said she inherited a party facing internal problems, with donors considering pulling funding after the loss of 250 seats in last year's general election - the worst result in Conservative history.

Speaking to the BBC's Newscast to mark her first year as Conservative Party leader, Badenoch said she spent her first months "working furiously behind the scenes", leading to some thinking her team "were not doing anything".

But Badenoch defended her position arguing: "Without money, a party can't survive."

Asked if there was risk that the Conservatives could have gone bankrupt, Badenoch said: "Yes, there was."

Badenoch would not say how near the party came to going running out of money, but admitted there was a moment when donors could have walked away.

Speaking to the BBC, she said keeping donors on board "actually took quite a lot of quite a lot of my time" which she wished she had spent "out there a bit more".

Badenoch insists the party is now on a firmer footing and has begun to set out a new policy agenda, thanks to the groundwork she laid in the first few months.

That work culminated in a policy announcement blitz during her party conference speech in October, where she outlined plans to end stamp duty and pull Britain out of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

In a wide-ranging interview, Badenoch spoke about learning on the job, including thinking of Prime Minister's Questions "like a panto" rather than a cross-examination.

The Conservative leader admitted she initially spent a day preparing arguments and statistics, only to find that people were not following what she was saying.

No matter how much she prepared, Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer would simply dismiss her points as "rubbish".

"I just thought this isn't working," she said.

"It is more theatre than it is a prosecution or interrogation."

"It is the nature of British politics that we will have a panto" while political debate in other countries will have other "culturally appropriate analogies", she argued.

Focusing instead on one thing during PMQs and "peeling it back like layers of an onion" had allowed her better scrutinise the prime minister.

Badenoch also dismissed talk of rivals plotting against her.

Several senior figures, including former leadership rival Robert Jenrick and rising star Katie Lam, have attracted headlines with interventions on issues such as banning the burka and deporting migrants.

From today, backbench MPs can launch a vote to potentially topple Badenoch, as the grace period stopping them from submitting letters expressing no confidence in her expires after her first year in office.

But Badenoch claimed she had told colleagues "go on instinct" and post what they liked on social media to rally support ahead of the party's first conference.

"Just make sure that if it's something that is a new policy line that you check it just so we don't end up going off in different directions," she added.

Ahead of this month's Budget however, Badenoch said she was instilling greater focus among her colleagues on the party's economic pitch.