‘The Conservative Plan to Leave the ECHR Marks the Crossing of a Rubicon’

Brexit – although seldom mentioned in British political life – continues to influence policy on the right, writes Chris Grey

Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick talking about judges at the 2025 party conference. Photo: Gary Roberts Photography/Alamy

It was no great surprise that Kemi Badenoch announced that it was now Conservative policy for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Many in her party have agitated for this for years and, with Reform UK already making the same proposal, it is one way for Badenoch to try to save her increasingly embattled leadership.

Yet surprising or not, it marked the crossing of a Rubicon.

This is not a fringe party as Reform still is, despite its current position in the opinion polls. This is the official opposition, and the party that has ruled the country for the majority of the years since the advent of modern democracy.

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