The Tories face an “extremely difficult” local elections in May, Kemi Badenoch has warned. The Conservative leader also insisted politics is not “showbusiness” and that “you will have to live with what you vote for” in a swipe at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

Voters across a number of county councils and unitary authorities in England will go to the polls on May 1. The town hall ballots come after the Tories suffered a devastating general election defeat last July and have since been overtaken in opinion polls by Reform.

Speaking today as she launched her party’s local campaign in Buckinghamshire, Mrs Badenoch sought to manage expectations for the upcoming council votes.

She said the Conservatives had been “riding high during the vaccine bounce” at the last local elections in 2021.

She added that this year would be different after the general election result, telling the audience of Tory activists: “If you map that general election result of 2024 onto this coming May, then we don’t win the councils like we won in 2021, we lose almost every single one.

“I think we’re going to do a bit better than that, but we know that these elections will be extremely difficult.”

Mrs Badenoch pledged “lower taxes and better services”, adding: “We are the only credible choice: Lib Dems will wreck your public services, Reform has no experience running anything, Greens will run councils into the ground and Labour will spend, tax and waste your money, just like they always do.”

She also warned that politics is “not showbusiness” in an attack on Mr Farage who appeared on I’m A Celebrity in 2023.

Mrs Badenoch said: “This is not a game. This is about people’s lives. This is not for us. It is for all those people out there who need credible politicians. That is what we’re offering.”

She added: “These local elections aren’t about me. They are about the public. What is it that they want in terms of public services?

“It is about all of these local councillors who pound the pavements every day, fixing things, making life better for ordinary people. That is what we are doing this May.

“This is not a national referendum. People sometimes will vote for protest parties, but what I’m saying now is that you will have to live with what you vote for.”