Overview

• A London Guildhall gala for Thatcher’s 100th birthday features Boris Johnson and Mark Thatcher, while Kemi Badenoch attends a separate Conservative fundraiser in Greenwich.
• Reform UK figures, including deputy leader Richard Tice, are joining Tory grandees at the dinner as the insurgent party courts traditional Conservative donors.
• Major donor Mohamed Amersi, who has been backing Reform more recently, says there is “not a chance in hell” Badenoch is the answer to the Tories’ problems.
• Badenoch is now promoting policies such as abolishing stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland and leaving the ECHR, citing a review by David Wolfson that argues withdrawal can align with the Good Friday Agreement but would pose significant difficulties.
• With polls placing the Conservatives behind Labour and losing right‑of‑centre voters to Reform, Badenoch approaches 2 November when MPs may begin submitting letters of no confidence.