Writing for ConservativeHome, Dr Patrick English, Director of Political Analytics at YouGov, and their spokesman on political research, looks at how difficult it is for the Conservative Party to be heard.
ConservativeHome: 1st October 2025: Patrick English, Director of Political Analytics at YouGov, writes:
"In his speech to Labour Party Conference, Keir Starmer only referenced the Conservative party once, in a joke – “remember them?”
"This tongue in cheek reflection of the supplanting of the Conservatives by Reform UK as the opposition in the eyes of the public, if not officially within the parliamentary system, serves as a reminder of the importance of the upcoming Conservative party confidence to the future fortunes of both Kemi Badenoch and the party itself.
"Not that the general public will be watching or paying much attention; in much the same way that voters will not know nor care much at all about the comings and goings and ins and outs of Labour party conference (most won’t even really know any of us are here), few public eyes will be cast the way of Manchester next week.
But for the Badenoch and the Conservatives the battle is now for exposure and attention. Party conference offers a rare moment where the media ecosystem will sit and take notice of what it is the Tories actually currently have to say.
"The Conservatives may have been for now shuffled aside as the principle party of opposition, but they do not have a uniquely unpopular position with the British public.
"Next week in Manchester offers them a golden opportunity to make inroads into breaking the association between Reform and Farage with British political opposition, and getting Badenoch and the Conservatives back on the political map. A rare moment where eyes and ears are on them and what they have to say.
"For their sake, it is an opportunity they simply cannot miss. They must come to the Conference armed with a clear plan to make headlines and make interventions which will find their way to the news feeds and television screens of ordinary voters. If they don’t, it will only further normalise the idea that Reform, not the Conservatives, are the true opposition."