Kemi Badenoch And James Cleverly In ‘Fight To The Death’ To Reach Tory Leadership Run-Off

Posted on 02/10/2024 by Boris Clair

Tory rivals Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly are now in a “fight to the death” to get through to the final run-off in the Conservative leadership race, senior MPs believe.

Bookies’ favourite Robert Jenrick is thought to have already secured the support of enough MPs to make it to the last two.

Tom Tugendhat is widely expected to be the next candidate to drop out of the race when the next ballot of MPs takes place a week from now.

That would leave leadership hopefuls Badenoch and Cleverly battling it out for the right to go head-to-head with Jenrick in the final phase of the campaign, in which party members will decide who replaces Rishi Sunak as leader.

Cleverly is seen as the candidate with the wind in his sails at the end of the Tories’ annual conference in Birmingham.

His set-piece speech, in which he urged the party to “be more normal” and pledged to put a smile back on its face, went down well in the hall.

The former home secretary has also succeeded in avoiding any controversy – unlike Badenoch.

A source on his campaign said: “The momentum is well and truly with James. He has always loved conference and the last few days have seen him thrive.”

Badenoch, on the other hand, has been embroiled in rows over her views on immigration, maternity pay, the national minimum wage and even whether thousands of civil servants deserve to be behind bars.

Conservative leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch, from left, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat stand on the podium during the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

One veteran MP said: “Kemi just reaffirmed people’s worst fears that if she was leader there would be a gaffe a day. All the rest of us would then have to spend all our time having to explain what she meant.

“Her campaign has appeared chaotic and she hasn’t done as much flesh-pressing as the others. Some colleagues were saying they had seen the other candidates three or four times but only seen her once, which plays into concerns about her work ethic.”

And while her final speech to the conference gained pass marks, one former minister said it wasn’t the “humdinger” she needed to overtake Jenrick.

“It went down very well in the hall, and the content was good, even if the delivery wasn’t great,” the MP said.

However, a Badenoch campaign source told HuffPost UK they were “very happy” with how the week has gone.

“She was the only candidate anyone was talking about all week, proving that she is the only candidate with the star quality to cut through in opposition,” the source said.

“The membership loved her. Polls of members released during the conference put her ahead. The speech is winning plaudits. And two big hitters in David Davis and Helen Grant came out and endorsed her shortly after she’d finished speaking.”

While Cleverly’s campaign has undoubtedly been buoyed by the last few days, party insiders believe he still needs to persuade MPs who had been planning to vote for Badenoch to switch to him if he is to have any chance of winning.

One undecided MP said: “James showed that he’s an experienced pro and would able to hit the ground running if he wins. He also answered some of the doubts about whether he really wants it.

“But has been at the heart of everything for last five years, so can he credibly claim that he will deliver change as leader? That’s his challenge now, because he’s in a fight to the death with Kemi for the second slot on the ballot.”

What’s The Tory? Can The Next Conservative Leader Capitalise On Labour’s Woes?

Posted on 27/09/2024 by Boris Clair

Maybe the Conservatives don’t really need a new leader, after all.

Remarkably, the party has actually gained seven local council seats in the past five weeks after suffering a landslide general election defeat less than three months ago.

That is despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the Tories are effectively leaderless at the moment.

Rishi Sunak is still nominally in charge. But even those close to him concede that he mentally checked out of the job on the morning of July 5.

Indeed, the former PM will hardly be seen at the Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham, which kicks off on Sunday. He will address a members-only reception that evening, and is expected to play no further part in the proceedings.

Instead, the conference will be a political beauty contest, as James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick fight for the right to succeed Sunak as Tory boss.

The Conservatives’ poll ratings have recently ticked up slightly, although this has more to do with the Labour government’s ongoing woes than a sudden wave of affection for the Tories.

Polling by Savanta, seen by HuffPost UK, confirms that the general public have stopped paying attention to the party.

Given a choice of who would make the best opposition leader, Sunak, Nigel Farage or Ed Davey, the most popular answer was “don’t know”.

Emma Levin, associate director at Savanta, said: “There is clearly a big gap in British politics for an opposition politician to properly take Keir Starmer to task. But that hasn’t happened yet.”

One former Tory cabinet member, who is yet to decide who to back in the leadership race, told HuffPost UK that the conference is an opportunity to show the public that the party still exists.

“Labour being so shit has just overwhelmed everything,” he said. “I’m genuinely surprised that they’re making a lot of very basic mistakes.

“People have forgotten all about Rishi Sunak. It has all been about Labour and how bad they’ve been.”

The MP said he hoped that one of the four remaining candidates may emulate David Cameron, who used the party conference in 2005 to destroy his more-favoured rival, David Davis.

“This year’s conference is about bringing the leadership contest back to centre stage, and highlighting what the differences are between the contenders.

“We’ll be looking to see how they perform, whether they commit any gaffes and whether any of them can do a Cameron-esque performance that blows everyone else away.”

Under the rules of the contest, the remaining four will be whittled down to three and then two by a couple of ballots of Tory MPs when Westminster returns the week after next. It will then be up to the party’s members to decide the winner, who will be announced on November 2.

The contenders: clockwise from top left, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly

Former immigration minister Jenrick is now the bookies’ favourite, overtaking the previous frontrunner Badenoch.

One of his supporters said: “There is a lot of momentum behind Robert’s campaign, but he’s not taking anything for granted, he’s going to keep working hard to persuade MPs to support his positive case for change.

“He’s the only candidate who can win back voters on the left and right with his focus on the big issues and his serious, credible answers on the key challenges of the day, such as immigration, NHS reform and growing our economy.”

But a Badenoch campaign source insisted she was very much still in the race.

He said: “Kemi has been touring the country solidly for the past few months, going from Conservative association to Conservative association and getting an amazing reception from the members.

“All the independent polling puts her way out ahead with our membership. This conference is a chance to show MPs she is the members’ choice – the one with the star quality to cut through as a leader of the opposition and take the fight to Labour.”

Cleverly, a former party chairman, foreign secretary and home secretary, is seen by many as the dark horse of the contest, with even a senior figure in a rival campaign admitting he is “under-priced” by the bookies.

A source on his campaign described the conference as “a home fixture”, given his popularity with the party’s rank-and-file.

“He is a party man who loves campaigning and engaging with the activists and members – and he gets a consistently good reception from them wherever he goes, mainly because he knows half of them,” the source said.

“His approach is to engage as much as possible with the members, to set out his pitch as the unity candidate and the most experienced candidate who is ready to hit the ground running from day one as leader.”

It is barely 12 weeks since the Tories were reduced to just 121 MPs in the House of Commons, a statistical irrelevance when compared to Labour’s 411 and fewer than 50 seats ahead of the Lib Dems.

Whoever wins the leadership race faces a monumental task in trying to return the party to power at the next election.

Nevertheless, there remains a flicker of optimism among the party that the new Labour government’s struggles are not just a blip, but a sign that their seemingly-impregnable Commons majority could be wiped out at the first attempt.

They believe there is some light at the end of a very long tunnel. Whether it turns out to be an oncoming train remains to be seen.

Mel Stride Has Become The Latest Candidate Kicked Out Of The Tory Leadership Race

Posted on 10/09/2024 by Boris Clair

Mel Stride has become the latest candidate to be kicked out of the Tory leadership contest.

The former cabinet minister came last in a ballot of Conservative MPs.

They will now go forward to the Tory conference in Birmingham later this month, where they will each seek to convince MPs and party members that they have what it takes to succeed Rishi Sunak as leader.

Jenrick once again came top of the latest ballot with 33 votes, followed by Badenoch on 28, with Tugendhat and Cleverly both on 21 and Stride in last place on 16.

Voters Have Delivered A Brutal Verdict On The 6 Tory Leadership Candidates

Posted on 02/09/2024 by Boris Clair

Fewer than 10% of the public think any of the Tory leadership candidates would make them favourites to win the next election, a damning poll has found.

The survey, by the More in Common think-tank, found that 34% of voters replied “none of them” when asked which of the six hopefuls would the Tories most likely to form the next government. Some 36% said they “don’t know”.

James Cleverly came top on just 8%, followed by Priti Patel on 7%, Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch on 5% each, Robert Jenrick on 4% and Mel Stride on just 2%.

Even those who voted Tory in the last election are less-than-convinced by the choice on offer, the poll found.

Nearly one-third of them (32) said they “don’t know” which candidate will give the party the best chance of winning next time around, while 16% said “none of them”.

Cleverly again came top on 15%, with Patel second once more on 10%, with Badenoch on 9%, Jenrick and Tugendhat on 8% and Stride once again on 2%.

The poll also found that Patel is the only candidate recognised by more than half of the electorate.

Some 52% correctly identified the former home secretary when shown a picture of her, with 44% recognising Cleverly.

Badenoch came third with 37%, Jenrick was next on 21%, then Tugendhat on 19% and Stride with 12%.

Whoever wins also faces an uphill battle when they take on Keir Starmer, the poll found.

According to the public, none of them would make a better prime minister than the Labour leader, who enjoys a comfortable lead over each of his potential rivals.

Starmer is ahead of each of the candidates on who would make the better PM.

The findings were published as Tory MPs prepare for the first ballot of the contest, when the number of candidates will be reduced from six to five.

A second ballot will take place next week, after which the final four candidates will try to woo the party faithful at the Tory conference in Birmingham.

MPs will then choose the final two, who will be voted on my Tory members before the winner is announced on November 2.

James Cleverly Accuses Nigel Farage Of Spreading ‘Gossip And Rumour’ After Southport Killings

Posted on 11/08/2024 by Boris Clair

James Cleverly has accused Nigel Farage of spreading “gossip and rumour” following the killing of three young girls in Southport.

The Reform UK leader posted a video shortly after the murders suggesting “the truth is being withheld from us” by the police.

He also repeated false claims that the alleged killer was being watched by the security services.

A vigil for the victims, who were all under 10 years old, later descended into violence, sparking far-right riots throughout the country.

Farage has since admitted that he was repeating false claims made on social media by, among others, Andrew Tate.

He has defended his actions by insisting he was only trying to find out “the truth”.

On Times Radio this morning, Cleverly, who is running to be Tory leader, said Farage “needs to decide is he a politician or is a social media content creator”.

He said: “I think some of the things that he has framed as questions are clearly designed to generate traffic, generate digital content, and he needs to decide is he a politician or is a social media content creator because there is a friction between those two functions.

“As politicians, we have a duty to think very very carefully about what we do and very very carefully about what we say. What we must do is not intentionally reinforce gossip and rumour, particularly if it has serious real world implications.

“The question that he will need to ask himself and perhaps others as well is do you believe parliament is an important institution where serious decisions are made and the country is governed or is it just part of a PR operation for clicks and likes and monetised content.

“That is the question I would pose to anybody and everybody when commenting about very sensitive issues like the brutal murder of those little girls in Southport.”

Another Tory leadership candidate, Mel Stride, has also attacked Farage’s response to the Southport killings.

He told Sky News: “His suggestion that the police might not have been telling the truth about that situation, I think helped fuel conspiracy theories around what was happening [and] was deeply unhelpful.”

Ruth Davidson Has Backed James Cleverly To Be The Next Conservative Leader

Posted on 11/08/2024 by Boris Clair

Ruth Davidson has endorsed James Cleverly’s campaign to be the next Conservative leader.

The former Scottish Tory boss said the shadow home secretary had the “pragmatism, optimism and confidence” needed to succeed Rishi Sunak.

Her comments are a major boost for Cleverly, who is one of six candidates vying to become the next Tory leader in the wake of the party’s shattering general election defeat.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Davidson said his experience as a former foreign secretary, home secretary and Tory chairman made him the ideal person for the job.

She said: “We need to pick a leader who can demonstrate and communicate the unity, pragmatism, optimism and confidence we must have to start winning again… for me the standout choice to take us forward is James Cleverly.

“A military man who understands duty and service. A business man who knows how to run organisations. A big hitter, holding two of the great offices of state at the Home Office and Foreign Office. A pragmatist who can unite all sections of the party.”

Davidson said Cleverly had “both rallied world leaders to Ukraine’s cause as foreign secretary and rallied local constituency activists during his time as party chairman”.

She added: ” He knows that we must look outward to rebuild, not turn in on ourselves.

“As leader, he will keep the Conservative Party a broad church, knowing that’s where success lies. And his appeal has breadth, too, enabling us to win back voters that we lost to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform.”

The other candidates for Tory leader are Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel and Mel Stride.

Who Has Officially Joined The Tory Leadership Race?

Posted on 25/07/2024 by Boris Clair

The contest to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party leader has officially begun, as Tories are gradually started to put themselves forward.

After enduring a historic defeat in the general election and walking away with just 121 seats in total, former PM Sunak said he was stepping back from the helm of the party when his successor was chosen.

As the fight for the soul of the party begins, it remains to be seen whether it will end up going for a more centrist figure, or leaning further right.

Here’s who has officially announced their leadership bids, who is expected to – and how long this whole competition is going to go on for…

1. James Cleverly

The former home secretary (who now shadows the same role) announced his plan to run on Tuesday, a day before nominations actually opened.

Seen as a moderate within the Conservative ranks, he has said the Conservatives need to “re-establish our reputation as the party who, in government, helps grow the economy, helps people achieve their goals, their dream and their aspirations”.

Alluding to the party’s historic loss at the ballot box, he said: “We must ditch the self-indulgent infighting and be ready to deliver when the next chance comes.”

According to a Savanta poll shared with Sky News, Cleverly has a net favourability of -9 with the general public.

He held several ministerial jobs under Boris Johnson before being appointed as the education secretary at the end of the ex-PM’s premiership.

He was foreign secretary for both Liz Truss and Sunak, and home secretary from November 2023 and July 2024.

2. Tom Tugendhat

Formerly the security minister, Tugendhat now shadows the same role on the other side of the House.

Although he launched his campaign with a bang by saying he would consider leaving the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights), he is usually perceived as a moderate in the one nation wing of the party.

He argued in an article for The Telegraph that he would prepared to leave the ECHR if institutions make it harder to control the country’s borders, claiming this was a “common sense Conservative position” to take.

The former army officer suggested defence spending should be pulled up to 3% of GDP, and claimed he was running “to be the next Conservative prime minister”.

He ran in the last leadership race in 2022, but was knocked out and chose to support Liz Truss instead.

He also chaired the foreign affairs select committee from 2017 to 2022.

According to the Savanta poll, he has a net favourability of -3, making him the most popular contender with the public so far.

However, party members historically to choose the more rightwing candidates.

3. Robert Jenrick

The former immigration and health minister – and one-time housing secretary – is on the right of the party.

A former ally of Sunak, he dramatically resigned from his cabinet in December claiming the Rwanda plan to deport illegal asylum seekers was not a strong enough deterrent.

He is expected to try and appeal to Tory members more sympathetic to Reform UK.

His campaign manager, Tory MP Danny Kruger, said Jenrick has the “energy, temperament and policy agenda to take on our rivals and lead us back to power in five years.”

He was not included in the Savanta poll because he did not run in the last leadership election in 2022.

Who else is expected to run?

Mel Stride, shadow work and pensions secretary, admitted at the weekend he was “considering” putting himself forward – he held onto his seat in the election by just 61 votes.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman and her predecessor Priti Patel are both expected to put themselves forward in the coming days.

Kemi Badenoch, shadow housing, communities and local government secretary, may also join the race.

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins was expected to run, but she said she would not be in a social media post.

Rishi Sunak announced his resignation as Tory Party leader when he lost the general election

How will the process work?

The nominations for the candidates opened on July 24.

Each candidate needs to secure backing from 10 other MPs by July 29 to make it to the next round.

But, only around 100 MPs will be able to support a chosen candidate.

That’s because MPs who are whips or who sit on the executive backbencher 1922 committee cannot support a candidate.

It means only 10 Tories – at most – will be able to move to progress past this point in the race.

If two or more candidates get through, a campaign will take place throughout the summer.

In September, MPs cast their votes on the remaining candidates.

The four with the most votes will be selected, and all offered a chance to speak at the Tory party conference, (from September 29 to October 2), and MPs will vote again.

The two with the most vote go through to the next hurdle.

The remaining pair will then have to go before the party members, who will vote on their favourite candidate in an online ballot which closes on October 31.

To vote, members must have been “active” when the whole contest opened in July, and been members for at least 90 days before the ballot closes.

The new leader and official leader of the opposition will be confirmed on November 2, and Sunak’s time leading the Conservatives will officially end.

They will become the sixth leader of the Tory Party since 2016.

Banksy Responds After James Cleverly Brands His Glastonbury Stunt ‘Vile And Unacceptable’

Posted on 04/07/2024 by Boris Clair

Banksy has issued a response to home secretary James Cleverly’s claim that his recent stunt at Glastonbury was “vile and unacceptable”.

During a performance by Idles at the music event on Friday night, an inflatable boat filled with dummies wearing orange life jackets, intended to represent refugees trying to pass through treacherous seas, was passed out to the crowd.

The band had initially been unaware of the stunt that was carried out during their song Danny Nedelko, which opens with the lines: “My blood brother is an immigrant. A beautiful immigrant.”

An Idles spokesperson later confirmed the boat was, indeed, a Banksy piece.

According to a photo shared on X by Glastonbury Live, the boat also returned to the crowd for Little Simz’s set on the Pyramid Stage the following day.

The stunt was met with condemnation from the Home Secretary, who told Sky News: “People die in the Mediterranean, they die on the Channel. This is not funny. It is vile. This is a celebration of the loss of life in the Channel.”

He added: “To joke about it, to celebrate it at a pop festival when there have been children dying in the Channel, is completely unacceptable.”

Now, the anonymous street artist has responded to Cleverly’s comments on Instagram.

“The home secretary called my Glastonbury boat vile and unacceptable’ which seemed a bit over the top,” Banksy wrote.

“The real boat I fund, the MV Louise Michel rescued 17 unaccompanied children from the central Med on Monday night.

“As punishment the Italian authorities have detained it – which seems vile and unacceptable to me.”

The MV Louise Michel, provides life-saving support to those in distress crossing the Mediterranean, and was purchased with the proceeds from the sale of Banksy artwork.

Banksy’s Glastonbury stunt comes after he returned with his first art instalment of 2024 back in March.

The mural featured a stencil of a woman who had sprayed green paint over a white wall behind a pollarded tree, which gave the illusion of leaves.

Last year, he also unveiled a divisive new piece of street artwork centring around domestic violence against women.

‘A Sign Of Moral Decay’: Trevor Phillips Clashes With James Cleverly Over Top Tories Betting On Election Date

Posted on 23/06/2024 by Boris Clair

Trevor Phillips clashed with James Cleverly over the betting scandal which has sent the Tories’ election campaign into meltdown.

The Sky News presenter said it was a sign of the party’s “moral decay” and demanded to know why Rishi Sunak had not sacked those alleged to be involved.

It came as the Conservatives’ chief data officer, Nick Mason, became the latest senior official to be dragged into the affair.

According to The Sunday Times, he has taken a leave of absence amid allegations he placed dozens of bets on the date of the election.

Two Tory candidates, the party’s director of campaigns and one of the PM’s close protection officers are also under investigation.

On Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips this morning, the presenter told the home secretary: “The prime minister talked two weeks ago about the moral mission of your government to reform welfare.

“Let’s talk about morality. Is it a sign of the Conservative Party’s moral decay that some of your colleagues were more interested in stuffing their own pockets by gambling on the date of the election than on helping hard-pressed families hit by the cost of living?”

Cleverly replied: “I’m not in any way going to defend people who placed bets on that There is an investigation by the Gambling Commission and we have been told very, very clearly that we are not to discuss the investigations.”

Phillips went on to ask the minister why Sunak had not taken firm action against those involved.

He said: “The prime minister claims to be furious, but he says it’s all got to go through this process. Why doesn’t he, like any other employer might do in this situation, call in the alleged offenders, ask them ‘did you place a bet or did you not place a bet’ … and if the answer is yes, sack them?”

After Cleverly said that was the Gambling Commission’s job, Phillips told him: “No, no, no – he’s the prime minister. These people work for him. He can do whatever he wants.

“If it were you, he’d say ‘James, tell me the truth. Did you or did you not?’. And you, being an honest man, would say yes or no.”

But the home secretary replied: “I don’t necessarily know the process in detail, but the Gambling Commission is the appropriate body for this. They have said they’re investigating and they’ve also said it is inappropriate for us to comment on what is a live investigation.”

Phillips hit back: “He’s the prime minister – he doesn’t get told what to do by the Gambling Commission.”

Rwanda Scheme Will End Up Costing Taxpayers Billions Of Pounds, Claims Think Tank

Posted on 18/03/2024 by Boris Clair

The government’s Rwanda scheme will end up costing taxpayers billions of pounds, according to a leading think-tank.

A new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says the UK will have to pay up to £230,000 for every asylum seeker deported to the east African country.

That is around five times as much as it currently costs to house an asylum seeker in the UK.

In total, the IPPR estimates that the Rwanda policy will cost the government between £1.1 and £3.9 billion to deport the 20,000 asylum seekers who have entered the UK via so-called “irregular routes” since last year.

The findings come as MPs prepare to once again debate Rishi Sunak’s flagship Safety of Rwanda Bill.

The prime minister hopes that the first deportation flights will take off in the spring – although transport secretary Mark Harper yesterday refused to guarantee that any deportations will happen before the election.

Marley Morris, the IPPR’s associate director for migration, trade and communities, said: “Aside from the ethical, legal and practical objections, the Rwanda scheme is exceptionally poor value for money.

“For it to break even, it will need to show a strong deterrent effect, for which there is no compelling evidence.

“Under the government’s plans, billions could be sent to Rwanda to remove people who have already arrived irregularly since the Illegal Migration Act was passed.

The only winner from this scheme appears to be the Rwandan government itself, which has already secured hundreds of millions without doing much at all.”

As part of the Rwanda deal agreed by home secretary James Cleverly in December, the UK has to pay £370m up front to the Rwandan government, followed by a further £120m once 300 people are sent there.

The UK also has to pay £20,000 for each person deported, plus up to £150,874 per asylum seeker to cover the costs of asylum processing and integration.

For each person who leaves Rwanda, the UK is also expected to pay an extra £10,000 to facilitate their departure.

According to the IPPR, the total cost of sending one asylum seeker to Rwanda could be as much as £228,000.

But a Home Office spokesperson said: “The report makes a number of assumptions and modelling calculations that we do not recognise.

“Without innovative solutions, the cost of housing asylum seekers could reach up to £11 billion per year by 2026.

“Illegal migration costs lives and perpetuates human trafficking, and it is therefore right that we fund solutions to break this unsustainable cycle.

“The best way of saving taxpayer money is by deterring people from coming here illegally in the first place, and our partnership with Rwanda intends to do just that.”

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