The United Kingdom is a great country, inhabited by a great people. We have been badly let down by successive governments since the 1990s but that does not make Britain bad, nor does it diminish her people. The failure has been in the management of our country.
If anyone can begin putting that right today, it is Kemi Badenoch. I do not say that simply because I am a Conservative. I say it because Kemi has already begun changing our party no mean feat where the Conservative Party is concerned.
Britain has contributed more to the world than almost any nation in history, and we still have so much more to give. But we must be strong abroad and courageous enough to confront our problems at home, however difficult or uncomfortable that may be.
I am convinced that Kemi has the strength, honesty and determination to deliver.