"Previous Conservative governments... simply did not realise that it is not possible to solve many of Britain’s problems without changing the laws that laid the foundations for those problems" - Kemi Badenoch
Conservative Party: May 2026 : PopCon examines the Tory party's Alternative Kings Speech
The publication of the Conservative Party’s Alternative King’s Speech represents a significant milestone for the mission of Popular Conservatism. For some time, PopCon has argued that the primary obstacle to effective governance is not merely a lack of will, but an institutional and legal framework—the "Blairite Settlement"—that has systematically moved power away from elected representatives and into the hands of non-elected bodies.
This document suggests that the party hierarchy has indeed been listening to the arguments put forward by Dr David Starkey, Mark Littlewood and the PopCon Team. By explicitly identifying that it is impossible to solve Britain's problems without "changing the laws that laid the foundations for those problems," the leadership is moving toward the structural reset PopCon has long championed.
The extracts listed below are taken from the Conservative Party document:
I. The Institutional Reset & Unpicking the "Blairite Settlement"
Through out the document there there are clear references to view that the current legal framework—much created during the Blair era—is the primary barrier to effective government.
"Previous Conservative governments, sometimes because of a lack of a majority, but at other times simply did not realise that it is not possible to solve many of Britain’s problems without changing the laws that laid the foundations for those problems." Context: Kemi Badenoch's foreword explaining why institutional failure is rooted in the legislative architecture. [Page 4 | Para 22]
"The last Conservative government failed to stop the small boats because of a reticence to unpick the Blairite Settlement which is no longer fit for purpose." Context: Identifying the post-1997 constitutional changes as the barrier to effective border control. [Page 5 | Para 1]
"Any future government that does not learn these two lessons - that you cannot fix anything without detailed plans, and that these plans must start by untying your own hands and restoring the levers of power - will solve nothing." Context: The final conclusion of the Foreword on the necessity of reclaiming executive authority. [Page 5 | Para 3]
"Membership of the ECHR and the Blairite Human Rights Act have undermined democracy and accountability." Context: Explicitly linking these legal frameworks to a decline in democratic oversight. [Page 23 | Para 1]
"Leaving the ECHR and repealing the Human Rights Act are necessary preconditions for the steps urgently needed to secure our borders, restore fairness in the benefits system and protect our service men and women from lawfare." Context: Framing constitutional change as the prerequisite for all other policy successes. [Page 23 | Para 8]
II. Restoring Parliamentary Authority & Sovereignty
The document also focuses on returning decision-making power to elected MPs and away from international or non-elected bodies.
"Conservatives believe our sovereign Parliament, accountable to the British people, should make the laws that govern the United Kingdom." Context: Reasserting the core principle of parliamentary supremacy. [Page 23 | Para 6.
"The very foundations of democracy are being undermined because the British people have made it clear they want to see action in these areas, and successive governments have failed to deliver." Context: Arguing that judicial/legal constraints on Parliament have created a crisis of democratic legitimacy. [Page 23 | Para 15]
"Repeal the Human Rights Act. The result of this Bill would be that the United Kingdom would revert the situation that had existed before 1998, with Parliament as the guardian of rights through existing statutory and common law protections without needing a single statute setting out rights." Context: Describing the objective to return to the pre-Blair constitutional model of rights. [Page 25 | Para 8]
"Our democratically elected Parliament, rather than the courts, should decide on the balance and limits of rights." Context: Rejecting judicial determination of rights in favour of political determination. [Page 25 | Para 2]
"The Bill will introduce a legally binding Parliament voted annual cap on migration, giving power back to Parliament. This cap would be decided annually and ensure that the levels of migration are determined by the British people." Context: Proposing that Parliament, rather than administrative policy, should have the final word on immigration. [Page 29 | Para 1, 2]
III. Bringing the Judiciary and "Lawfare" Under Control
The document details measures to curb the influence of courts and judicial review on government policy.
"Time and again, efforts to get control over our borders were frustrated because power had been taken out of the hands of Ministers and handed to courts, in Britain and in Strasbourg." Context: Critiquing the transfer of authority from the executive to the judiciary. [Page 5 | Para 2]
"The Human Rights Act outsources control of our laws to a foreign court." Context: Describing the effect of the HRA on domestic sovereignty. [Page 24 | Para 9]
"The Human Rights Act... requires all United Kingdom legislation must be interpreted (as far as possible) compatibly with Convention rights overriding the intention of Parliament." Context: Arguing that current laws allow the judiciary to bypass the actual intent of lawmakers. [Page 24 | Para 11]
"The Bill will end the Immigration Tribunal, most Judicial Review and Legal Aid for immigration matters. The only grounds for Judicial Review will be that the Home Secretary has acted without proper statutory authority, strictly and narrowly defined." Context: Strong legislative steps proposed to minimize judicial interference in deportations. [Page 27 | Para 11, 12]
"Withdrawing from the ECHR will eliminate appeals against the legislation based on rulings from a supranational court, and will enable our domestic courts to take a more balanced approach to the rights of our veterans..." Context: Seeking to decouple British courts from European case law. [Page 37 | Para 10]
IV. Reclaiming Authority from the "Administrative State"
The document makes several references to the reduction of regulatory power and the re-establishment of ministerial direction.
"The explosion of environmental, social and governance (ESG) red tape has created a vast web of complex rules that force businesses to comply with political targets..." Context: Attacking the "rule by regulation" characteristic of the administrative state that grew up under the Blair/Brown and Conservative governments of the past. [Page 16 | Para 1]
"The Bill will also introduce a ministerial veto over the adoption of new non-financial regulations in the financial services sector, as a safeguard against regulatory ‘mission creep’." Context: Creating a direct check on the power of independent regulators. [Page 18 | Para 1]
"Replace Net Zero 'have regard' letters with growth and competition neutrality letters. We would require the PRA to withdraw climate stress tests..." Context: Forcing the administrative state to prioritize economic goals over social/environmental targets. [Page 18 | Para 3, 4]
"Give the Home Secretary the power to set overall operational priorities so that the police will be directed to crack down on cannabis use." Context: Re-asserting democratic/ministerial control over police operational choices. [Page 31 | Para 3]
V. Overturning the "Tied Hands" of Net Zero
The document addresses the repeal of the Climate Change Act as a restoration of legislative flexibility.
"Repeal the Climate Change Act 2008, to give us the freedoms needed to cut energy prices, rebuild energy security and cut environmental red tape on business." Context: The centerpiece of the plan to restore sovereign control over energy and industry to parliament. [Page 19 | Para 10]
"Rename the North Sea Transition Authority to the North Sea Authority and remove its Net Zero mandate..." Context: Example of stripping an agency of its environmental "Transition" mandate. [Page 21 | Para 11
"Reverse the Finch ruling which requires oil and gas projects to account for their Scope 3 emissions, making it easier for new North Sea developments to get approval." Context: Using a Parliamentary Act to explicitly strike down a specific judicial interpretation. [Page 21 | Para 14]
VI. Cultural Authority & Education Reform
The document also addresses the removal of external mandates - seeking to reclaim ministerial power over institutions.
"The Bill will... prevent local authorities, mayoral authorities, or other public bodies from encouraging or requiring schools to sign up to externally developed inclusion charters where these conflict with school behaviour policies." Context: Counteracting the influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in schools. [Page 39 | Para 1]
"The Bill will... [grant] the Secretary of State stronger powers to direct the Teaching Regulation Agency to investigate alleged breaches [of political impartiality] by teachers..." Context: Strengthening the central government's power to intervene in education. [Page 39 | Para 2].