Kemi Badenoch has suggested the public may one day change its mind on whether people should have to pay for access to healthcare.

The Conservative leadership contender was pressed about her views on the free use of the NHS in a broadcast interview as the Conservatives gather in Birmingham for their conference.

Tory former minister Ms Badenoch signalled on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg there is currently a “consensus” that the NHS should remain free at the point of use, but said she cannot say whether she might change her own mind on the matter in future.

She told the BBC: “That is a consensus that we have in this country.

“There are many ways to deliver a free at the point of use service that doesn’t require the Government to be involved in every aspect.”

Ms Badenoch, the MP for North West Essex, was pressed about remarks made in an interview with the Times newspaper where she said the UK is not “ready for changing the principle of free at the point of use, certainly not immediately”.

Asked whether this means she will support a change in free access to the health service in the future, she replied: “It might be that the public decide that.”

Pressed for her personal view, Ms Badenoch added: “I can’t say whether I might change my mind in the future. I am telling you what I think now.”