Kemi Badenoch should go on 'apology tour' for Tory 'mistakes' in office, says Ruth Davidson

Kemi Badenoch should go on an "apology tour" for the "mistakes" the Conservatives made while in government, a former leader of the Scottish Tories has said.

Speaking on Sky's Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ruth Davidson said there is "the sense that the Tories haven't done their contrition tour yet", and the party "will not get a hearing until that's been done".

She also said that the party's headquarters have not grasped the "sense of urgency" required to "get ourselves back on the pitch after one term" due to Reform UK splitting the right-wing vote.

The Conservatives were booted out of government in July 2024 after 14 years in power, in an election campaign dominated by Labour's slogan of "change".

After winning the subsequent leadership contest, Ms Badenoch has repeatedly admitted the Tories made "mistakes" in office under previous leaders, and argued the party is now "under new management".

She has undertaken a "policy renewal" programme in a bid to reorient the party's ideological stance, focusing on "common sense" principles and a "sensible" right-wing positioning.

But although her personal approval ratings have risen in recent months to make her the least unpopular party leader, the Tories still languish down at 19%, according to Tuesday's Sky/Times/YouGov poll.

In a bid to fix that, Baroness Davidson argues that, although Ms Badenoch has gone some way towards changing the public perception of her, not enough has been done to fix the party's reputation.

She told Sky's political editor Beth Rigby: "One of the complaints that I've had about Kemi is that it's hard to scold people into liking you.

"And when she started, she was very much in that mode of kind of chastising people into what she wanted them to think. And I have seen a modification of that.

"There's also the sense that the Tories haven't done their contrition tour yet. We got kicked out of office after a really long time as the government after having made many mistakes, and we haven't done the apology tour that needs to be made.

"And I think that for a lot of people, we will not get a hearing until that's been done and it's been done in an authentic way."

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Baroness Davidson went on to say that for the first time back in opposition, the Tories have "a real and present danger on our right flank" in Reform UK.

She added: "There is an alternative, a genuine alternative to the Tories as the alternative to Labour. We needed to get ourselves back on the pitch within one term.

"And usually there's not that kind of sense of urgency once you've been kicked out of office after a long time. And there is that sense of urgency now.

"And I think that CCHQ needs to grasp that in a much stronger way."

The former Scottish Tory leader is from a different wing of the party to Ms Badenoch, and is considered more of a centrist than the leader.

Alongside fellow centrist Tories no longer serving in government, she launched Prosper UK in January 2026, which is a political movement designed to appeal to "politically homeless" voters and bring the Conservative Party back to the centre-right.

The group has been touring the country to speak to voters and "bring together people from politics, business and public life who believe the country can do better" - arguing that only the Conservative Party with a "practical, centre-right approach" can provide an alternative to Labour and Reform UK at the next general election.

(c) Sky News 2026: Kemi Badenoch should go on 'apology tour' for Tory 'mistakes' in office, says Ruth Davidson