Kemi Badenoch has insisted she is doing “well” as Tory leader, despite mounting concern in the party at the start she has made in the job.
The former Conservative cabinet minister succeeded Rishi Sunak in the role after defeating Robert Jenrick in November.
Her time as leader of the opposition has so far been marked by gaffes and a series of poor performances at prime minister’s questions.
Voters have also delivered a damning verdict on her performance so far, with the number who see her as a “PM in waiting” actually falling since she became Tory leader.
But asked on Radio Four’s Today programme how it is going so far, Badenoch said: “I think it’s going as well as it possibly could do. I was expecting it to be much worse.
“One of the things I’m pleased about is that the party has downed tools on the internecine warfare, and being in parliament and seeing a Labour government reminds everyone who the real opponent is.”
Badenoch also dismissed criticism at the lack of policies she has so far announced.
She said: “We are six weeks into a four-year general election, maybe five even depending on exactly how it works.
“Whatever I say now is likely not to apply then, so what I’m going to do is earn the trust of the British people by explaining to them how we think, and we are going to bring the policy out as it’s thought through.
“So I’m not saying ‘we’re not going to say anything, vote for us’, these things will come (…) you will start to see them soon.”
She later added: “‘Watch this space’ is what I’m saying, you will see there will be a narrative.”