Badenoch – Hoang Viet

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Dec 27 2024

Kemi Badenoch needs to pick her battles – and decide how dirty she wants to get | Politics News

Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty. And besides, the pig likes it.

Looking at the festive ding-dong that’s broken out between Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, you do wonder if the Tory leader should take on board this famous quote – because there was only ever going to be one winner from this spat.

The Reform UK leader has spent the thick end of three decades dragging his political opponents into fights that ultimately benefit his cause. This is no different.

What would have been a relatively low-key Christmas stunt has been elevated into literal front page news.

Reform UK insiders say that, in turn, is driving more people to the party and pushing up their member count further.

Part of this is down to news editors grabbing on to any bit of politics that’s around during the quiet period between Christmas and New Year.

Why Badenoch and her team didn’t clock this and hold back will likely bewilder some in her party.

An argument the Tories should have swerved

What’s more, the Tory leader is also currently on the back foot regarding her central accusation that the Reform membership number is fake.

Reform agreed to show Sky News details of their account on NationBuilder – a platform that manages memberships and donations for many political parties.

The number of active memberships in the account portal matched the figure on the ticker – with their website count growing in size shortly after the NationBuilder tally increased.

Sky News also conducted its own analysis on the ticker and found nothing suspicious as it stands (read the full analysis here).

Kemi Badenoch has said Reform changed the coding when people began to point out the alleged discrepancy, but has yet to provide any evidence to back this up.

Either way, this is still an argument the Tories should probably have swerved.

All politicians need to pick their battles

Yes, signed-up members mean more income for a party, but they don’t necessarily translate into wider electoral success. After all, Labour’s membership surged under Jeremy Corbyn, but he still lost two elections.

But that’s not to say both main parties shouldn’t be looking very closely in their rearview mirror at Reform.

The party’s reaction to this row shows a far more professional behind-the-scenes operation than the previous, more ramshackle incarnations of the Farage-led political machine.

Talk to long time allies of the Reform leader, and even they sound somewhat surprised by how slick their project has got.

They also point to electoral milestones on the horizon where the party’s results at the ballot box can be objectively tracked – beginning with May’s local elections next year and running through the Welsh Assembly vote in 2026.

There’ll be many more attempts by Nigel Farage to wrestle with his political opponents before then.

The task for the Tory and indeed Labour leaders is to pick their fights and judge how dirty they are prepared to get.

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Nov 3 2024

Kemi Badenoch makes first senior appointment as Conservative leader | Politics News

Kemi Badenoch has made her first senior appointment as the new Conservative Party leader.

It is understood that Dame Rebecca Harris, MP for the Essex constituency of Castle Point, will be the party’s chief whip – replacing Stuart Andrew.

Mr Andrew wrote on the X social media platform: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as the Conservative Party Chief Whip.

“She [Harris] is a great friend and a brilliant whip. I wish her all the best in the role.”

Dame Rebecca’s role as chief whip will require her to maintain party discipline and to try and ensure MPs vote as Ms Badenoch would like them to.

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The 56-year-old has been the MP for Castle Point since May 2010 and supported the Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum.

She was also Comptroller of the Household between 2022 and 2024 – an ancient and largely ceremonial role handed to a government whip.

Her appointment comes a day after Ms Badenoch beat Robert Jenrick to replace Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader.

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The 44-year-old North West Essex MP is expected to appoint the members of her shadow cabinet before Tuesday.

She did not immediately announce who would make up her top team, but suggested all of those who ran against her in the leadership race should be involved.

However, former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly revealed the day before the result that he would not be joining Ms Badenoch’s top team.

He will return to the backbenches along with former prime minister Mr Sunak, former deputy prime minister Sir Oliver Dowden, ex-chancellor Jeremy Hunt and former Brexit, health, and environment secretary, Steve Barclay.

In an interview after becoming party leader, Ms Badenoch told the BBC the partygate scandal was “overblown” and the government should not have fined people for “everyday activities” during lockdown.

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Nov 3 2024

Kemi Badenoch says partygate scandal was ‘overblown’ | Politics News

The new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said the partygate scandal was “overblown” and the government should not have fined people for “everyday activities” during lockdown.

Ms Badenoch, who won the battle to replace Rishi Sunak on Saturday, said the public was “not wrong to be upset about partygate” – when those working in Downing Street held parties during COVID lockdowns.

However, she said she thought partygate was “overblown” and the Conservative government should not have created fixed penalty notices for disobeying COVID restrictions.

“The problem was that we should not have criminalised everyday activities the way that we did,” the North West Essex MP told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“People going out for walks, all of them having fixed penalty notices. That was what ended up creating a trap for Boris Johnson.”

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The scandal saw Mr Johnson fined for attending a party in Downing Street, one of several that took place under his tenure in breach of Covid lockdown regulations.

She said it was staff in Downing Street disobeying the rules that ended up with Mr Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, and then chancellor Mr Sunak being fined.

“People in government didn’t obey the rules, but they were not MPs,” she said.

“They were often staffers and I think that’s the way that we had created those regulations, ended up entrapping [Boris Johnson].”

Ms Badenoch resigned from Mr Johnson’s government in 2022 but said she thought he was “a great prime minister”, however, there were “some serious issues which were not being resolved” which made the public think “we were in it for ourselves”.

After Mr Johnson was fined for going to his own birthday party in Downing Street, he said: “In all frankness, at that time it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules.”

Ellie Reeves, chair of the Labour Party, said Ms Badenoch calling partygate “overblown” will “add insult to injury for families across Britain who followed the rules, missing loved one’s deaths and family funerals, whilst her colleagues partied in Downing Street”.

Speaking after winning the leadership campaign, Ms Badenoch said the Conservative party needs to be honest about the mistakes it made that led to it losing July’s election.

“Our party is critical to the success of our country,” Ms Badenoch said.

“But to be heard, we have to be honest, honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.

“The time has come to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party and our country the new start that they deserve.

“It is time to get down to business. It is time to renew.”

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Ms Badenoch is in the process of choosing her new shadow cabinet and is understood to want her top team to be in place by Tuesday.

She previously suggested all those who ran to be leader against her should be included.

However, James Cleverly said on Friday he would be returning to the backbenches after coming third in the contest.

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Sep 18 2024

Kemi Badenoch claims she ‘became working class’ after securing a job at McDonald’s as a teenager | Politics News

Kemi Badenoch has claimed she grew up in a middle class family but “became working class” after securing a job at McDonald’s as a teenager.

The former business secretary, who is campaigning to become the next Conservative Party leader, said there was a “humility” to the job she took on at 16, describing days cleaning toilets and “flipping burgers”.

She told Chopper’s Political Podcast with Christopher Hope that her time at McDonald’s was the “first time I ever interacted properly with people who didn’t come from the sort of background that I came from”.

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Ms Badenoch said: “I grew up in a middle class family, but I became working class when I was 16 working at McDonald’s.

“Just understanding how many people there were single parents, and they were working there to make ends meet.

“There’s a humility there as well. You had to wash toilets, there were no special cleaners coming in. You had to wash toilets, you had to flip burgers, you had to handle money.”

Her comments quickly circulated online, with one Labour MP questioning Ms Badenoch’s claim that she “became working class”.

Sharing a clip from the podcast, Chris Bryant, the MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, said: “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

Meanwhile, Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting, said: “I was a council scheme boy but I became upper class when I started shoplifting at Harrods. It just takes enterprise.”

Later in the interview, Ms Badenoch said she “never has gaffes” or has to “apologise for something”.

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She added: “I never have to clarify, because I think very careful about what I say.”

The former business secretary is one of four candidates remaining in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party.

The other hopefuls are Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly.

The four candidates will give short speeches at the Conservative Party conference later this month, before MPs vote to whittle down the race to two.

A new leader will then be selected by the Tory party membership, which is expected in November.

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Sep 1 2024

Tory leadership: We won’t win back trust ‘by pointing out how terrible Labour are’, says Badenoch | Politics News

The Tories will not win back trust of the British people by simply “pointing out how terrible Labour are”, Kemi Badenoch will say.

Speaking at the launch of her Conservative leadership campaign on Monday, the former Business Secretary will attack the new government as failing to offer “something better”.

But despite reeling off a list of criticisms, including “trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the British public about the state of the UK finances”, she will go on to say that this won’t help her party win the next election.

“If the Conservatives want to become worthy of the British people’s trust again, we can’t just sit around pointing out how terrible Labour are… fun as it is,” Ms Badenoch will say.

“We can’t just keep having the same policy arguments from the last parliament. We lost. We are not in power.

“Labour will fail; and when that time comes, and the British people are looking for change, we have to be that change.

“We have to focus on renewal. The renewal of our party, our politics, and our thinking.”

The Tories suffered their worst ever general election defeat in July, ushering a Labour government into power for the first time in 14 years.

Conservatives are split about what direction the party should go in, with some calling for a return to the centre ground and others favouring a shift to the right to combat the threat of Reform UK.

Ms Badenoch, seen as favourite on the right, is up against five others in the race to replace Rishi Sunak: Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Dame Priti Patel, Tom Tughendhat and Mel Stride.

Mr Cleverly will also give a speech on Monday, when parliament returns from the summer recess, in which he will say his party must “think and act like Conservatives again” and argue for a smaller state.

He will say the Tories “must get our act together” to present solutions to “an unstable world, global migration and a crisis of confidence in capitalism”.

“That means being honest and realistic about the role of the state. About what it should and can do, and what it should not and cannot. The state should focus on doing fewer things very well, not everything badly,” he will add.

“We accept that the state has a primary duty to protect its people and its borders. But Conservatives must be honest about the trade-offs in doing these things properly.”

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Mr Cleverly will also argue for a “family-first society” rather than looking to the state as the first port of call when a problem arises.

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The candidates are seeking support from fellow MPs ahead of the first round of voting on Wednesday, after which the field of contestants will be reduced to four.

The build-up to the ballot has already seen major speeches by Mr Tugendhat, Ms Patel and Mr Jenrick in recent days.

A husting will be held during the party conference at the end of the month, when MPs will vote again to narrow the field to two candidates.

The party’s wider membership will then vote with the winner announced on 2 November.

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