Kemi Badenoch ‘has to adapt’ her rhetoric to take on Andy Burnham

From the publisher

“So, Andy Burnham seems like a nice guy.” Those were the slightly unexpected opening words of Kemi Badenoch’s first speech since the change in prime minister. But make no mistake: she was there to bury her opponent. Even Badenoch-sceptics inside the Conservative party and farther afield agree the Tory leader is becoming more confident, and has been able to forge an increasingly coherent message for her party, one based on a promise of economic competence. She does, nonetheless, face a different challenge now Burnham has replaced Keir Starmer. Aside from being a fresh face with a likely polling bounce, the former Greater Manchester mayor is more of a media natural,…

The source's own excerpt, unedited