Kemi Badenoch Pledges to Ban Doctors’ Strikes if Conservatives Retain Power

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has pledged to outlaw doctors’ strikes if her party stays in government, accusing the British Medical Association (BMA) of being “out of control.”

Speaking on GB News amid a fresh five-day strike by resident doctors, Badenoch criticized the BMA’s industrial actions, 11 strikes in the last 18 months claiming they’ve led to patient deaths and disruptions across the NHS.

“Medicine is a vocation, not just a job,” she said. “These strikes are costing lives and burdening taxpayers.” She emphasized that the Conservative government had previously proposed a fair offer balancing doctors’ welfare with public finances.

Badenoch called on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to adopt a similar stance, vowing to amend the existing 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act to include doctors alongside police, military personnel, and prison officers, who are already prohibited from striking.

The proposal, she said, is a matter of “common sense” aimed at safeguarding patients, ensuring continuity of care, and protecting the NHS from what she sees as militant union action.