Kemi Badenoch has ditched the traditional curtain-closing rendition of God Save the King from the 2025 Conservative Party Conference, opting instead for pop music as delegates depart.
The Conservative leader’s decision has sparked criticism from veteran Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, who has campaigned for years to restore the national anthem to the party’s conference schedule.
Romford MP Rosindell, who successfully pushed for the Tories to reintroduce singing the national anthem at its party conference in 2021, revealed that members will not sing God Save the King on Wednesday when the Manchester conference concludes.
Pop Music Replacement
Mr Rosindell suggested that Mrs Badenoch will instead leave the Manchester Centre to the sound of pop music.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Rosindell said: “I’ve asked for the national anthem to be played at the end of conference again. And I hope it will be played. I’ve spoken to the party chairman, Kevin Hollinrake. He’s sympathetic.”
However, the 59-year-old Tory MP, who also put pressure on the BBC to play God Save the King every night, added: “The indication so far is that it won’t be played.
He revealed that the national anthem is likely being replaced by pop music.
Appeal to Tradition
In a push to make Conservative chiefs change their minds, Mr Rosindell told GB News: “I feel that singing the anthem of our country shows that what we’re really about isn’t party politics, it’s love of country.”
The national anthem was a regular fixture of Tory Party conferences under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher.
However, following the Conservatives’ humiliating defeat of 1997, God Save the Queen was dropped from the conference schedule.
The national anthem returned to the Tory Party Conference last year, having yet again been axed from the schedule in 2023.
Historical Significance
Land of Hope and Glory had been considered the unofficial anthem of the Tory Party throughout the 20th Century, with Sir Winston Churchill closing the party’s 1949 conference with a rendition in London.
The decision to drop the national anthem comes as Mrs Badenoch faces her first conference as Conservative leader following the party’s devastating general election defeat last year.
The Tories have been languishing in the polls, with some surveys placing them in fourth place behind Reform UK, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Rosindell has long been an advocate for greater displays of patriotism, previously calling for the BBC to restore playing the national anthem at the end of each day’s broadcasting and urging schools to sing God Save the King in weekly assemblies.
The conference in Manchester has seen Mrs Badenoch unveil major policy announcements, including plans to exit the European Convention on Human Rights and proposals to remove 150,000 illegal immigrants a year.
However, the absence of the traditional national anthem finale is likely to disappoint some party members who view it as an important expression of patriotism and Conservative values.
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Image Credit:
The Conservative Party Conference 2023 — photo by Dominic Lipinski / Parsons Media (via CCHQ), licensed under All Rights Reserved / licensed to Parsons Media
