If Kemi Badenoch is the answer, what is the question? Her version of Toryism is not likely to leave Sir Keir Starmer shaking in his shoes. In truth, the prime minister must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when the Conservatives opted for Kemi as their new leader.
How did he get so fortunate? An arrogant, abrasive, crass, and pretentious maverick, the new leader of the opposition seems determined to keep the Tories in the political wilderness. Clearly not troubled by self-doubt, the more we hear from her, the more it is apparent that her confidence bears no relation to her abilities.
Her recent claim that she has never “had a gaffe” a perfect illustration of her inability to read the room, coupled with Liz Truss levels of delusion.
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Prior to her elevation as leader of the Conservative party, Kemi was rarely far from the headlines. Clangers and outlandish statements are her stock-in-trade, her shtick. Some of her greatest hits to date include attacking migrant workers, universities, autistic children, civil servants, vegan scones and Doctor Who.
She attracted ridicule by claiming that a part-time job flipping burgers in McDonald’s as a 16-year-old made her working class. For reference, Badenoch’s parents are a GP and a professor of physiology, respectively. She was privately educated, worked for Coutts and the Spectator and is married to a senior investment banker at Deutsche Bank. Whilst class is admittedly a nebulous concept, her claims are frankly ludicrous.
Badenoch’s comments about maternity pay in September should have marked the end of her leadership campaign. According to her, maternity pay had gone “too far” and people should take personal responsibility. She also remarked: “There was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies.” Yes, well there was a time when we sent children up chimneys, but that doesn’t mean that we should turn the clock back.
Read more: Kemi Badenoch: The darling of the Tory right bidding to lead them back to power
She lamented the fact that the tax system was taking money from one group of people and giving it to another. Strange, given that is precisely what it is supposed to do. In her view maternity pay is “excessive”. In contrast to other EU and OECD countries, the UK has one of the least generous systems of maternity pay. Does that sound excessive?
The 36-page pamphlet published by her leadership campaign to coincide with this year’s Tory party conference sparked outrage. In it she contended that conditions such as autism were overblown and used by people as a pathway to better economic advantages and protections. The notion that people with autism are afforded unfair societal advantages displays a complete lack of understanding of both mental health and neurodivergence.
Since taking over at the helm at the Conservative party, Badenoch has wasted no time in building on her the ‘shooting from the hip’, straight-talking persona. In her first interview as leader with Laura Kuenssberg, she claimed that the Partygate scandal was “overblown” and the regulations were the problem. In her assessment, Boris Johnson was a “great leader”.
Last week, in an issue closer to home Badenoch lashed out at Labour for settling the Kneecap discrimination case. Defending her decision, taken as business secretary, to revoke a government arts grant awarded to the Belfast band, she called it “yet another cowardly decision after giving away the Chagos Islands”.
“Labour would rather waste your money than stand up to a group of Irish republicans who go to court because the UK government won’t hand them cash,” she added.
Kneecap’s lawyer, Darragh Mackin said the unlawfulness of the decision in February by the government was as “clear as the nose on your face”. Whether Badenoch cut Kneecap’s funding to enhance her hard right credentials or she truly believed that the trio were a threat to constitutional stability is anyone’s guess.
Read more: Kneecap and the fine art of provocation - The Irish News view
Badenoch’s task as leader of the opposition is essentially twofold. First, to rebuild her divided, broken party and, second, provide effective challenge to the Labour government. On both counts, she has made a distinctly inauspicious start. Notwithstanding the shallow pool that she has to select from, her shadow cabinet hardly inspires confidence.
Whether Badenoch cut Kneecap’s funding to enhance her hard right credentials or she truly believed that the trio were a threat to constitutional stability is anyone’s guess
Her attempts to hold the government to account are cringeworthy. Prime Minister’s Questions is a shouty affair, but occasionally a useful insight into British politics. Notwithstanding his government’s dreadful start, Starmer must be unable to believe his luck.
Miraculously she has managed to make the wooden PM look sharp, edgy and quick-witted. The Tory leader’s attack-dog style might land well with some, but being unable to hold a government with such a huge majority to account is a serious issue.
Things are not looking good over in Tory land. Slowly, it will dawn on the Conservatives that they may have confused a quick temper for passion, outrage for intellect and attention-seeking for leadership.
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