Badenoch vs Jenrick: Our columnists on who should win the Tory leadership race
Two men are on safari, the old joke goes, and a lion creeps towards their tent. One starts to put on his trainers, to the incredulity of the other. “Why are you putting on your trainers? You cannot outrun a lion,” the bemused friend says.
“I don’t need to outrun the lion,” the other responds. “I just need to outrun you.”
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are the last ones standing in the Tory leadership race. Now one has to outrun the other in a vote of Conservative Party members. Who has the better trainers?
Jenrick has started quickly, holding a press conference less than 24 hours after the announcement that he had made it to the final two. He has proved himself a good campaigner – insisting that people want to hear specific policies rather than discussions about values and principles.
In Badenoch he has a formidable opponent. For the Party, and many of our readers, she is the front runner, standing on principles and values, not detailed policy proposals. She knows she is not fighting an election campaign and that no-one is ready – yet – for a manifesto. The next battle for the public’s endorsement is at least four years away, however badly Labour performs.
The 44-year-old has a whiff of Margaret Thatcher about her and “feels” next generation, even though she is two-years Jenrick’s senior. Sharp tongued where necessary, she talks of personal responsibility and rebooting institutions of the UK. Where James Cleverly was continuity, Badenoch is wholescale change. Like a Catherine Wheel gaining momentum, there could well be a lot more to come from the MP for North-West Essex. The risk is the firework flies off in an errant direction, burning the neighbour’s cat.
Labour is pretending that Cleverly was the person that most frightened them, and that his defeat is such a gift they may have to declare it. That is nonsense. If he understood anything about politics (and he may not), Sir Keir Starmer should most fear a young, black opponent who personifies “the alternative”. The Conservative Party wants to see change. So do the public.
The Conservative Party now faces a difficult period of rebuilding. To win next time, we have to show once again that we are a party of principle, with the best ideas to change Britain for the better.
That’s why I’m supporting Robert Jenrick as the Party’s next leader. I know he is a man of principle: his decision to resign from the Cabinet rather than endorse migration measures he didn’t think would do the job shows that. Having done the same thing myself, I know how difficult it can be, but you know when it must be done. Those who, rather than trying to change things, stuck it out to the end in a losing government must surely bear some of the responsibility for the situation in which we now find ourselves.
The task for Conservatives now is to apply our principles to the rebuilding process. We can’t afford a period of vacillation, a long period of reflection where the Party debates what it stands for. The biggest problem we will face at the next election is “why should we believe you this time”. The only way to deal with it is to be totally clear about what we will do and why. That’s what Rob is doing.
There’s no room for ambiguity about the ECHR. If we don’t commit now to leaving we will never be trusted to control immigration. It’s a Remain or Leave choice and Rob has taken a clear view on it.
As he has in other areas. Get back to growth with low taxes and a smaller state. Reform our failing NHS. End the madness of our super-high energy prices with a proper look at net zero. And stand up for the country – get defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, recover our sovereignty over the whole of our territory, and start defending our history and national identity.
The next election will be won, to the right and the left, by showing our Conservative principles provide the best solutions for the country. Robert Jenrick believes in them and can deliver them. That’s why I’m supporting him.