To committee room 14, where many of the remaining 117 Tory MPs crammed in tonight to hear from their leader. Kemi Badenoch was welcomed with 25 seconds of prolonged banging from her colleagues, after a week in which, first Robert Jenrick, and then Andrew Rosindell chose to defect to Reform. Having addressed both the right-wing 92 Group and Common Sense Group on Monday, Badenoch sought to build on that speech and put recent controversies to bed.
She told assembled MPs that, with regards to Jenrick, ‘We lost someone not on ideology, but personal ambition’ before suggesting that the real question ought to be ‘What are we winning for?’ Arguing that the ‘Conservative party remains the best vehicle to deliver proper conservatism’, she suggested that ‘an unholy alliance of Reform, with some on the left of our party, are undermining what we want to do.’ This is a direct response to the reaction of some commentators in recent days, who have appeared to welcome Jenrick’s defection as a welcome chance to pivot to the centre.
Her argument to MPs was that ‘we are the party of the right and we will always be a party of the right.’
The Tory leader squarely rejects this approach. Her argument to MPs was that ‘we are the party of the right and we will always be a party of the right.’ Attendees at Monday’s event were heartened by her refusal to change tack from championing what one called the ‘distinctive, albeit robust, conservative space we want to occupy.’ Her address this evening was consistent with this message, with Badenoch promising a plan, team and vision to deliver ‘a right wing solution’ to the country’s problems. That news will perhaps be less welcome to some elements on the One Nation wing of the party. Andy Street and Ruth Davidson are expected to launch a fresh initiative on the future of the centre right next week.
Badenoch had a more difficult balancing act tonight when it came to the question of whether or not Britain is actually broken. She acknowledged that ‘people don’t want incremental managerialism’ and that ‘there is a lot to fix in this country’ – yet maintained that ‘the whole country isn’t broken beyond repair’. It was an attempt to straddle the divide between what she considers to be Labour’s false optimism and Reform’s relentless negativity. She told MPs that while ‘Reform are negative about our country, we will be fuelled by positivity.’ Yet with three quarters of voters agreeing that the country is broken, many wavering Tories feel little about which to be positive.
That widespread sense of Britain being on the wrong track is the main reason why the Conservative party is yet to see any recovery on its 2024 vote share. Intriguingly, even Jenrick is among those willing to argue that Badenoch herself is one of the sounder people around the shadow cabinet table. His contention is that it is her other colleagues who are unwilling to embrace the radical measures needed to turn this country around.
Badenoch’s speech tonight was intended to show that if there is a deficit of so-called ‘proper conservatism’ at the top of the Tory party, then it is certainly no fault of hers. Her supporters will hope it serves to reaffirm faith in a leader at a time when her party is under fire.
