Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has defended her party's record on tackling grooming gangs, insisting "I did the bits that I could do" amid mounting pressure following a damning new poll.
The pressure on Badenoch comes as Reform UK has topped a national opinion poll for the first time, according to new data from Find Out Now.
Speaking to GB News, Badenoch acknowledged frustrations over the pace of political reform, particularly regarding the case of three Rochdale abusers who remained in the UK despite being stripped of their passports a decade ago.
She said: "Well, we have to look at where we're starting from. What have we done this year? On rape gangs, we've managed to get the Government to move, not to a full inquiry, but now they finally agree that some of the inquiries are needed.
Kemi Badenoch defended her party's record
GB News
"When they said none at all, we've got them to move on that, they're doing disastrous stuff on education, absolute vandalism, on the good work that we have been doing over the last 14 years."
Camilla Tominey said: "You could say that GB News and Charlie Peters have pushed them to that position and the survivors have."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Badenoch fired back: "It doesn't mean that doesn't make you the opposition. We were the first to call for a national inquiry. Certainly as politicians. That was something I remember because it was my birthday."
Camilla pointed out that a national inquiry is something that "should have happened under the Conservative Government."
She explained: "Well, we had an inquiry. We had a wide-scale inquiry. I thought that was going to come up with more on this, but it ended up discovering something much broader. After that, we launched a task force.
"We found 550 perpetrators that hadn't been found before. That shows that more needed to be done. So this work is ongoing.
Some 26 per cent of Britons would now vote for Reform if a General Election were called tomorrowPAShe added: "I am tearing my hair out. But we're under new leadership. I wasn't there when that was happening. I did the bits that I could do."
The poll shows Reform UK commanding 26 per cent of voter support, putting them three points ahead of Badenoch's Conservatives at 23 per cent.
Labour has fallen to third place with 22 per cent of voters backing Sir Keir Starmer's party.
The unprecedented poll results mark a significant shift in Britain's political landscape, with Reform UK emerging as a potential frontrunner in any upcoming general election.
Camilla Tominey grilled the Conservative leader
GB News
Keir Starmer has emerged as the clear frontrunner for preferred Prime Minister in the latest Pulse poll, securing 31 per cent of support.
Reform UK's Nigel Farage follows in second place with 21 per cent, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch trails at 11 per cent
The poll also revealed a stark assessment of opposition effectiveness in British politics, with 27 per cent of respondents seeing no effective opposition at all.
Nigel Farage scored 26 per cent on opposition effectiveness, positioning him as the most prominent opposition figure in the survey.
Kemi Badenoch registered 14 per cent in opposition effectiveness ratings, placing her behind both the "no effective opposition" view and Farage's performance.
The results come from Lord Ashcroft's Pulse polling company, showing Badenoch's mixed performance across both leadership and opposition metrics.
