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BBC's Laura Kuenssberg was shot down by Kemi Badenoch as the conservative leader emphatically defended her party saying: "Im challenging your analysis." This came after Kuenssberg accused the Conservative Party of going backwards. "There are signs that the public is becoming more convinced by you as a leader, but when we look at last week's results...you are still going backwards when it comes to real votes, and you told us in March you were going to gain seats at the local elections, you lost more than 500."

"We did move forwards from last year," Badenoch insisted. "We can't compare to five years ago. It's now multi-party politics, not two-party politics. But what we are seeing right now is a very frustrated public who are voting for protest parties, and what I'm trying to say is that the Conservative Party is a new party, new leadership. This is not about personalities. We're spending a lot of time talking about who's popular... Being popular is not the same as governing the country.

As Badenoch continued her rhetoric Kuenssberg interjected arguing: "When it comes to the results, last week you were fourth in Wales, you were fifth in Scotland, you lost more than 500 council seats. Now that does not show that you are making progress."

Badencoh dismissed this saying: "We won councils back from Labour, Westminster, and Wandsworth..." Kuenssberg repeatedly tried to cut in as Badenoch insisted: "Let me finish!

"We lost seats in places like Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk. Those counties are being abolished. People told me on the doorstep, it doesn't really matter. We know this isn't real...

"What I'm saying is that what happens at local elections has no bearing on what actually happens at general elections.

"We've seen lots of people win council seats. Liberal Democrats have done this previously, and they're not gone into government. Let's stop talking about elections and start talking about the problems the country is facing out there.

"I know you want to say that everything's terrible," she told the presenter. "That we won't win...The last oppositions have been 13, 14, 18 years. I've been doing this for 18 months, and people can see that there is progress.

Cutting across again Kuenssberg said: "Forgive me It sounds like you are dismissing the votes of millions of people last week, and votes are the public's message to political parties."

"No," Badenoch insisted. "What I am doing is challenging your analysis. I have said that we have done better than we did last year."