Summary

  • The four Conservative leadership candidates vying to replace Rishi Sunak have made their final pitches to the party's conference in Birmingham

  • Kemi Badenoch was the last to speak, telling the audience that the Tories "must defend our beliefs and values"

  • Just before her, Robert Jenrick said the “era of mass migration must end”

  • Before them James Cleverly pledged to "sell the benefits of Conservatism with a smile", while first speaker Tom Tugendhat promised to rebuild trust through a "new Conservative revolution"

  • Tory MPs will then pick a final two candidates next week - with party members then voting for the winner, who will be announced on 2 November

  1. Show's over - analysis to comepublished at 10:02 British Summer Time 29 September

    And with that Pat McFadden interview, and a final chat with the panel, the show finishes - stay here for clips, analysis, and recaps.

  2. McFadden says free clothes were 'campaign' donationspublished at 10:00 British Summer Time 29 September

    Media caption,

    Pat McFadden vows to change rules on donations

    Labour cabinet minister Pat McFadden is now responding to Rosie Duffield's interview.

    He starts by saying she's been "disillusioned" with the party leader, and perhaps the party more generally, for "quite a long time" - and that he doesn't think it's something that has developed in the last few months.

    Asked about the ongoing headlines on donations Labour members have accepted in the past, McFadden says they were campaign donations and adds that "presentation" is part of a campaign.

    He says there would be "more in this" if there was any suggestion of "give x to get y" - but he says Lord Alli has been a "long-term" Labour supporter.

    He says there is currently a loophole between what ministers and shadow ministers have to declare - with ministers in the past not having to declare hospitality they receive - which they will now look to close.

  3. Does Starmer have a problem with women?published at 09:50 British Summer Time 29 September

    Duffield is now asked whether she thinks Starmer has a problem with women.

    "I'm afraid I do, yes," she says. "I've experienced it myself."

    She says lots of the female backbenchers she's friends with refer to the "young men that surround him [Starmer] as 'the lads' and it's very clear that the lads are in charge, they've now got their Downing Street passes".

    "They're the same lads that were there briefing against me in the papers and other prominent female MPs... I was really hoping for better, but it wasn't to be," she adds.

  4. Starmer can afford his own clothes, it's just greed - Duffieldpublished at 09:44 British Summer Time 29 September

    Rosie Duffield wears a violet silk shirt and is speaking to the BBC from her home via Zoom

    We're now seeing a recorded interview with former Labour MP Rosie Duffield - who's quit the party.

    In her resignation letter, the Canterbury MP hit out at Keir Starmer for accepting gifts worth tens of thousands of pounds while scrapping the winter fuel payment and keeping the two-child benefit cap.

    Duffield tells Laura: "I'm ashamed of the fact that we stood up and condemned the last few years of Tory sleaze and all of the things that brought politics into disrepute... and here we are and it's daily revelations of hypocrisy and grubby presents... I can't believe what I'm reading every single day."

    She adds: "It's greed. Why else would someone on so much more money than most people take free gifts? Why?

    "He can absolutely afford his own clothes, we all can and I've seen journalists asking him and he hasn't answered, he hasn't explained."

  5. We don't have enough personal responsibility, says Badenochpublished at 09:37 British Summer Time 29 September

    Like with Jenrick, Laura Kuenssberg ends by asking Badenoch the most Conservative thing about her.

    "Personal responsibility," she says.

    It's a value that "distinguishes us from all the left-wing parties", she adds - saying there's not enough of it in the country at the moment.

  6. 'We are not a dormitory'published at 09:37 British Summer Time 29 September

    The questioning on immigration continues.

    Badenoch says the UK needs to "uphold our values in this country" and ensure that it doesn't turn into a place that "millions of people are running from".

    "I don't think that people who bring foreign conflicts here should be welcome," she says - people who come to the UK should want to be part of it and integrate.

    "We are not a dormitory, this is our home, having people from all around the world just living in their little bubbles and little groups is a recipe for disaster."

  7. People are bringing views to UK that aren't welcome - Badenochpublished at 09:32 British Summer Time 29 September

    Pressed on migration, Badenoch says it is "clear" there are many people who have recently come to this country who have brought views that "have no place here".

    She says this is not just about conflicts in Middle East - citing her time as equalities minister when she says she saw people bringing cultural disputes from India "to the streets of Leicester".

    She says we need to ensure that migrants to the UK leave their "previous differences" behind.

  8. Which cultures are less valid?published at 09:27 British Summer Time 29 September

    Media caption,

    Kemi Badenoch: 'Of course all cultures are not equally valid'

    Now we're hearing from Kemi Badenoch. She is first asked about her comments in the Sunday Telegraph - which cultures, Laura asks, are less valid?

    Badenoch says it's those that believe in child marriage, or think women have less rights, for example.

    "I actually think it's extraordinary that people think it's an unusual or controversial thing to say - of course, not all cultures are equally valid I don't believe in cultural relativity. I believe in Western values."

    Pressed on which cultures are less valid specifically, she declines to name one.

  9. Jenrick: I want Tories to be working people's trade unionpublished at 09:25 British Summer Time 29 September

    Kuenssberg ends Jenrick's interview with some shorter questions - the last of which is what the most Conservative thing about him is.

    He responds that he believes in "opportunity" and adds that his values are "rooted in family".

    He wants the Tories to be the "trade union of working people" for the country, he ends with.

  10. Does Jenrick think all cultures are valid?published at 09:24 British Summer Time 29 September

    Jenrick is now asked whether he agrees with fellow leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch, who said in an article for the Sunday Telegraph that "not all cultures are equally valid".

    He declines to directly answer, instead saying: "Culture matters for integration," before reiterating his call for a cap on immigration figures.

  11. Jenrick pledges legally-binding cap on migrationpublished at 09:20 British Summer Time 29 September

    Kuenssberg now asks Jenrick about the economy, putting it to him that a firmer line on migration could cause the economy to suffer.

    Jenrick says he wants to get the economy growing again - but says he doesn't think the correlation between migration and growth stands.

    He references 5.9 million who have come into the country legally in the 25 years since Tony Blair became prime minister, adding that it's not been a period of record growth.

    He adds that he wants to see Parliament setting a "legally binding cap" on migration in the tens of thousands "or lower".

  12. Immigration is Jenrick's main focuspublished at 09:18 British Summer Time 29 September

    Media caption,

    Robert Jenrick: 'Age of mass migration hasn't made UK richer'

    Jenrick says that top of his list of things to fix is immigration - but there were other problems in the previous government's record, he says, including the economy and the NHS.

    He says he's spent the last few months "thinking very deeply" about "serious answers" to the challenges that the party faces - and has come up with a "clear plan" on how to take the party and country forwards.

    He says the ongoing leadership contest should settle that debate.

  13. Robert Jenrick speaking nowpublished at 09:13 British Summer Time 29 September

    Jenrick

    Robert Jenrick won the coin toss - so is being interviewed first. We'll have the top lines here soon - and remember, watch live at the top of the page.

  14. What do Jenrick and Badenoch like about each other?published at 09:04 British Summer Time 29 September

    Jenrick and Badenoch on the show moments ago
    Image caption,

    Jenrick and Badenoch on the show moments ago

    Before the main interviews, Laura begins by asking Jenrick and Badenoch what they like about each other.

    Badenoch says Jenrick is a "family man" - while Jenrick admires Badenoch's "directness".

    Those interviews will take place later in the show - stay here for all the main lines and analysis.

  15. Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is uppublished at 09:02 British Summer Time 29 September

    And we’re live - Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is now on air. You can watch on BBC One, the BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer or by clicking on Watch live above.

    We’ll also bring you the key lines, clips and analysis here on this page.

  16. Why has Rosie Duffield quit Labour?published at 08:55 British Summer Time 29 September

    Damian Grammaticas
    Political correspondent

    Media caption,

    Voters, activists and MPs are being laughed at - Rosie Duffield

    In the pre-recorded interview with Laura Kuenssberg - which we'll see in full shortly - Rosie Duffield says Keir Starmer’s team cares "more about greed and power than making a difference".

    This is far from the first time Duffield has been critical of Starmer. And it’s not the first time that she has thought of quitting Labour.

    In her time as an MP since 2017 there have been public disagreements between her, some in her local party, and Labour’s leadership - both Sir Keir and Jeremy Corbyn before him.

    In 2021 she had said she would not attend the Labour conference because she had received threats for her stance on women’s rights and her views on gender self-identification.

    Speaking to the BBC in 2022, Duffield indicated she felt snubbed by Sir Keir. "He doesn’t seem particularly interested in talking to me," she said.

    At the start of this year, Duffield was cleared by the Party’s Executive after multiple internal complaints against her, alleging antisemitism and transphobia. She "strenuously denied" the claims and said she was "completely exonerated".

    Earlier in her time as an MP there had been other attacks on her from within the party too.

    Back in 2018, when Corbyn was leader, she attended a rally against antisemitism. She said she wanted to show solidarity with Jewish colleagues, some of whom had been "systematically abused" and threatened.

    Local party members tried to censure her, but then backed down as MPs rallied round a new colleague. Duffield said she believed some local members had thought, mistakenly, that she had been trying to campaign against Jeremy Corbyn.

    Two years ago she told the BBC "we had to deal with the antisemitism issue which was huge and horrible, and I didn’t get any support from the leader then and there was an awful lot of abuse".

    However she said she believed things were improving, and she was no longer thinking of quitting the party.

    Now that’s all changed.

  17. Not all cultures are equally valid - Badenochpublished at 08:46 British Summer Time 29 September

    Joe Tidy
    Politics correspondent

    BadenochImage source, Getty Images

    Before speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, Kemi Badenoch has written in the Sunday Telegraph.

    She says culture is "more than cuisine or clothes - it's also customs which may be at odds with British values".

    She says it would be naïve to assume that immigrants would automatically abandon what she called "ancestral ethnic hostilities" at the border – or that all cultures are equally valid.

    "They are not," she says.

    Writing in the same newspaper, Tom Tugendhat has claimed his party lost the election due to a "lack of vision and a failure of leadership".

    In the Sunday Express, Robert Jenrick says the party must not focus efforts on the South East but win back the Red Wall. While James Cleverly has argued his party needs to "end the Tory psychodrama".

  18. The Conservative leadership race is wide openpublished at 08:38 British Summer Time 29 September

    Laura Kuenssberg
    Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

    By Wednesday afternoon the Conservatives should be a lot closer to knowing who their next leader will be - and the party’s conference in Birmingham, which starts on Sunday, is a huge and very public job interview.

    The common view among Tories I’ve spoken to is that none of the candidates - Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat – have dazzled, and one senior Tory describes the contest so far as "ponderous and lacklustre".

    But there's also the sense that it's "wide open," says another senior Conservative. They all still have multiple chances to impress - or disappoint.

    First, on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, we'll kick off with interviews with Badenoch and Jenrick (we have already spoken to the other two, you can watch those chats back here).

    Next they'll each be interviewed in the conference hall on Monday and Tuesday - a half-hour grilling followed by questions from the audience.

    In the fringes, away from the public glare, the four are expected to attend at least twenty events - panel discussions, Q&As and a blizzard of press interviews.

    Then their biggest test comes on Wednesday: a 20-minute speech that could make or break their leadership bid.

  19. Welcome to our live politics coveragepublished at 08:37 British Summer Time 29 September

    Jenrick and BadenochImage source, Getty Images

    Good morning and welcome to our live politics coverage, starting with the Laura Kuenssberg show at 09:00 BST.

    Laura's speaking live to Conservative leadership candidates Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch (she has previously spoken to the other two candidates, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat).

    The Conservatives' conference begins in Birmingham today, with all four candidates looking to impress. On 9 and 10 October, MPs will reduce the list to two, before members vote for the winner.

    The new leader will be announced on 2 November

    We'll also hear from Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield, who will explain why she has quit the Labour Party, plus cabinet minister Pat McFadden, former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt, former ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher, and ex-Conservative MP Jake Berry.