Can Milei-style shock therapy save the Tories?

Could the promise of taking a chainsaw to Britain’s overgrown state help cut a path back to power for the Conservatives? Just last month, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch expressed her admiration for Javier Milei, who as President of Argentina is pioneering a flamboyant – and radically effective – free-market approach to his country’s economic decline. With Tory strategists racking their brains this summer for a way the Conservatives can step out from Reform UK’s shadow, Badenoch’s statement is a real cause for hope. Commentators such as Tom Harwood have noted that no politician wants to confront the grim state of Britain’s economy. If Badenoch has the necessary courage, a Milei-ist approach of quickly cutting government spending and state size could be just the right approach to rejuvenate our economy.

Since the 2024 election, the Conservative Party has found itself in a difficult position. Burdened by a legacy of high immigration and taxation, the Conservatives have struggled to shake this negative perception. Normally, the similarly bad reputation that Labour have crafted for themselves over their first year in government would provide the Tories with a polling boost simply through recency bias. Today, however, Reform are making great strides in the polls and eating into Conservative council seats across the country. This leaves the Tories stuck: how do they distance themselves from Reform in the eyes of the electorate while sharing many of the same values?

The answer to that question can be found in the dynamic libertarian leader of Argentina. The South American economy has suffered from considerably worse inflation, poverty and currency devaluation than the UK and yet it has managed remarkable early signs of recovery in just a year and a half. Many of Milei’s economic policies would benefit Britain and its similar problems with budget deficits and high welfare bills.

Since taking over in December 2023, monthly inflation in Argentina has retreated from 25% to around 1.5% in May 2025. Rather than borrowing more, Milei secured a budget surplus, putting the economy back on track after years of mismanagement. This style of shock-therapy economics is best summed up by his famous ‘¡afuera!’ video in which he tells viewers which government departments he will get rid of, thereby trimming the fat on the state balance sheet. If the Conservatives could point to Argentina’s fiscal prudence as a model for liberalising the economy in a similar fashion, they could start winning back public opinion. By showing how such reforms might ultimately make people feel richer, they could rebuild trust and support.

Many parts of Britain suffer from high crime, filthy streets and divided communities, sentiment conducive to change. While Reform UK appear willing to borrow to fund nationalisation and tax cuts, Badenoch ought to be using this time in opposition to come up with specific policies designed to answer voters’ concerns while reducing wasteful spending and cutting the national debt.

A common criticism of the Tory leader is that she is ‘low-energy’. Rather than take it to heart, she must do as Milei has done by embracing the ‘madman’ image the media has painted of him. She must let free-market, small-state policy speak for itself. A Tory/Milei hybrid would take the shape of a government determined to tackle Britain’s rising issues around how much money is given to quangos, rebalancing the budget with the ambition of running a surplus and paying down our national debt.

While it would not be advisable for Badenoch to act with the same ferocity as Milei from the start, she must have the same clarity of purpose when it comes to balancing the books and getting the economy into a healthier state. Badenoch’s Conservatives need to flip the political norm of overpromising while underdelivering, and focus more on personal responsibility than on state dependency. This would not only cut through as a bold strategy, but feed the public appetite for a truly authentic politician.

With Reform’s promises of a great shake-up of the political system, the Conservatives could go one better by levelling with the electorate that individuals know how to spend their tax money on themselves a lot better than the Government does. From there, they could announce a great Civil Service reform, playing on the British public’s distrust in both the Government and the Civil Service (27% trust in the former, 45% trust in the latter). A Tory-style Milei-ist approach would tackle the Civil Service’s cumbersome approval system. It would replace it with a structure that holds the best-paid civil servants accountable to public scrutiny when things go wrong.

While accountability is a bitter pill to swallow, at least at first, the public does like honesty. Milei was quick to remind the public of the short-term pain involved in his ‘shock therapy’. To position herself as the only politician willing to tell Britons the truth (a role that Nigel Farage has played well over the last decade) may generate a level of trust and loyalty that other parties are sorely lacking. Badenoch should look to her advisers to help play on her strengths, such as her ability to quickly recall statistics.

If the Conservative Party wants to distance itself from Reform, the answer is not to start using their tactics. Rather than pursuing a Robert Jenrick-style agenda of policy sensationalism, it would be far better to use the Conservatives’ historical prestige as Britain’s most successful party to fill perceived gaps in Reform policy, such as transparency about how much more money Britain can borrow.

Britons know the economy is in a poor state. If Badenoch made good on her word and levelled with the electorate, identifying the biggest issues and pinpointing substantive reforms that no other party has the will to push through, she could revive her party’s fortunes. Much like Milei, she must be bold enough to tell Britons the truth, and act on the tough reforms she knows are needed, if she wants to save the Tories from sinking into obscurity.

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