The mere whisper of those four letters at a Conservative event and you can guarantee that members will have views - often very strong ones. It's the one subject that comes up the most with members as I take our message across the country.

And the feedback? Sadly, almost wholly negative. "Doesn't do the job", people will say. "Stopped working years ago". "Not up to it". "Only interested in asking me for money".

Some of this criticism is unfair. Many of the staff worked hard but with multiple changes of political leadership, there has been no consistent direction.

During the leadership campaign, lots of people told me to (in some cases literally) 'burn CCHQ to the ground and start again'.

That might have made people feel better but that's not the conservative way. As I have said many times, I'm not an arsonist, I'm a Conservative. If we believe in anything, we believe in institutions. So let's stick to our principles. Good conservatives don't break things, we improve them. And where necessary we re-build piece by piece - as we shall with CCHQ.

We need CCHQ to be a world-class campaign machine. And four months in, the work of renewal is underway.

The CCHQ I arrived at on November 2nd was battered, demoralised and lost.

Perhaps that was inevitable just weeks after our biggest election loss in 200 years.

But the problem ran much deeper.

We were so focused on being in government, we didn't reform or improve much over the years. Campaign expertise was shipped in every election cycle and then shipped straight out again, whether we won or lost, to cut costs. The hard working field campaigners often felt cut off from HQ.

The organisation had became an after-thought, lacking a clear organisational culture or performance management with appropriate incentives.

The constant 'feast or famine' of the last few decades means CCHQ has not built up capability over the long-term. Many joined not because they were dedicated to the Conservative mission, but a springboard into special adviser jobs in government.

Every election cycle and change of leader, cleaned out an additional cohort of talent as the new regimes favoured a new cadre.

The many good people who work there, toiling for long hours and little thanks, can see the organisation needs to be rebuilt for 2029, not 2009.

They are the most frustrated - having to work with others who don't care about them or the organisation, who leak and brief our secrets to the press and enjoy the adrenaline of Westminster politics without offering the service it needs to for our members.

Things are changing.

Since November, we've been taking small steps towards improvement.

Noticed fewer emails requesting donations? Perhaps you've seen the weekly email round-up sent to all members on Fridays to help you advocate for conservatism? Have you joined the regular online meetings with Shadow Cabinet members? We've been running them for over a month to hear your views (thanks to the nearly 2,000 people I spoke to in January!).

Each of these small changes is based directly on your feedback. There is more to come and cumulatively should make a big difference that puts our members at the heart of our movement again.

In the last few weeks, we've also started something much bigger - and much more challenging. If we are to win again, we need a different CCHQ.

I spent my first three months observing what was working and what wasn't, before making the decision to restructure. Four weeks ago, I delivered a tough message to everyone in CCHQ: step up or move on.

There are great people in that building who will be vital to our success.

But, the truth is we know that the organisation hasn't been as good as it needs to be. And that's what we need to change.

With the board's support, we're undergoing the biggest change to CCHQ in a generation.

Some colleagues are moving on to new challenges, and we thank them for their dedicated service. We're restructuring to slim down management, sharpen focus, and return to basics. Some old practices will stop as new initiatives begin.

Then we can hire for new roles with the future in mind.

Our goal is to create a new CCHQ, focused on winning elections on the doorsteps and online so we can deliver conservatism across the UK. The foundations for success must be laid now, not at the last minute before a general election.

Fundraising is the first step.

Of course, our opponents do not want us to succeed.

A few weeks ago, the Telegraph published stories that we were running out of money and forced to make redundancies. This is far from the truth. The Electoral Commission has recently reported that since November we raised more than Labour, the Lib Dems and Reform combined. Ignore ill-informed media reports from the disgruntled. My job is to do what is right, not what is popular.

If I didn't push ahead with restructuring CCHQ after the biggest defeat we have ever suffered, then I wouldn't be doing my job. I'm determined, along with our Co-Chairmen Nigel Huddleston and Dominic Johnson, to make CCHQ fit for the future.

But we also want to do this with you !

That's why, building upon the post-election review led by Lord McLoughlin and Lord Booth, I'm asking Nigel to lead the next stage of how we can ensure members feel that CCHQ works for them again.

Over the coming weeks, Nigel will be leading a series of sessions, talking to members about what they want to see in the next stage of the party rebuild.

I have asked him to report back within two months. So please get involved and shape the next phase in our renewal.

And if you have any initial thoughts, please get in touch directly.

Get in touch

There is a long road ahead of us as we rebuild trust with the public. The May local elections will be extremely difficult.

We are faced with more challenges than Conservatives in office have ever faced - but we will deal with them.

To make that happen, we will rebuild and renew CCHQ from the ground up and turn it back into an election-winning machine.

Our mission is simple: to get ready for the fight of our lives, remove this terrible Labour government and rebuild our country once again.

Yours sincerely,

Kemi Badenoch Leader of the Conservative Party