Robert Jenrick vs Kemi Badenoch: Pros and cons according to their supporters
Conservative MPs have whittled down the six leadership candidates to the final two – and now the vote goes out to the party membership.
Over the next two weeks, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will fight it out up and down the country.
After a contest which has already delivered its fair share of surprises, the race is still very difficult to call.
Polls show Ms Badenoch may be slightly ahead – although surveys of party members are notoriously difficult to carry out. She is also ahead in the betting markets, and she won in the final ballot of MPs by one vote.
But Mr Jenrick has some very prominent backers, and will be hoping the opposing side will make enough gaffes that they can go into the lead.
Here Daniel Martin, The Telegraph’s Deputy Political Editor, looks at what the supporters of each side are saying about the strengths of their candidate – and what they are saying about their rivals’ weaknesses.
Kemi Badenoch
What her supporters say
The former business secretary’s backers are confident she will win because she knows what she thinks and she speaks her mind.
They point to her successes in government, including her long campaign on the trans rights agenda which has culminated in Labour accepting the findings of the Cass review into gender medicine and puberty blockers.
And they say she is the one candidate talking about the “big ideas” such as to remodel the “broken” British state and deal with the inheritance of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – specifically equalities legislation and human rights law.
“She is very clear on the fact that it is this inheritance which has stopped the Conservative Party doing conservative things when in government,” said a member of her campaign team.
“What you need to understand about Kemi is that she is an engineer; she did not go to Oxbridge to study PPE. She looks at things as a system and if the system is broken, she will change it.
“She wants to take the party and the country to sound economic principles: freedom of speech, the free market, equality under the law.
“But this is not a time for easy answers and simple solutions. Instead she wants to go back to these principles and review the party.”
A source in her campaign team said she was a “different brand of politician”.
“She has always said truth is the most important thing: she hates politician speak and spin”.
“She wants to tell voters the absolute truth and not start using flowery language. She is very direct and this is why her words are sometimes taken out of context.
“But this cuts through with voters: they listen to what she has to say.”
‘Track record of success’
The campaign also point to her “track record of success” both as business secretary and as equalities minister in government.
“You’ve got Wes Streeting accepting the Cass review,” they said. “Five years ago that would have been unimaginable but her campaigning has shifted Labour’s position on this.
“She’s scrapped loads of EU laws, and signed the biggest ever trade deal in the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership]. When she’s in government, she’s delivered.”
Andrew Griffith MP said: “Kemi has been able to attract support from across the Conservative Party, from Steve Baker on one side to Damian Green on the other. That is a rare achievement.
“I believe that while she won’t rush to answers, she will help us to have an honest debate about what went wrong, what went right and how we get back to having a clear conservative philosophy.
“Third, I believe she has the ability to cut through, which few politicians have. If you’re watching TV with the sound off, which politician would make you turn the sound up? Kemi.”
An MP who did not support her praised her for standing up for what she believes. “Look at what she did on European law; she could have just gone along with what the Brexiteers wanted and scrapped them all,” they said.
“But she took a decision to keep many laws that were needed for trading standards. She was taken to task by the Brexiteers, but was phenomenally brave in facing them down, even though you might have thought she was in sympathy with them.
“She can be very brave to stand up for what she thinks is right, even if it flies in the face of what would be good for her own promotion.”
What her rivals say
Those supporting other candidates accept that Ms Badenoch has strong values which align closely with those of the Conservative Party, particularly on the Right.
But they whisper that there is another side to her: she is stroppy, is not a team player and is only interested in a small group of subjects.
She is also gaffe-prone, they say – pointing to the Tory conference earlier this month where she appeared to question the level of maternity pay and the minimum wage. One MP said it was “madness” to speak in this way when the Conservatives needed to reconnect with working mothers.
Others question how successful she really was in office, saying that although she has always been a Brexiteer, she was persuaded by the very Whitehall machine she claims to be against, to keep the vast majority of EU laws.
Some say she is too close to Michael Gove, the former Cabinet minister loathed by admirers of Boris Johnson. Others have even compared her to Liz Truss, whose doctrinaire attitude and lack of people skills means she was forced out within weeks.
One MP who supported a rival candidate said: “She is prickly and very fragile and barely talks to her close lieutenants. They find her hard to get hold of.
“Her people skills, or rather the lack of them, could cause problems. I don’t think she has demonstrated that she is a team builder. As opposition leader you need the ability to take people with you, to persuade them.
“She will have to go on a major charm offensive with all wings of the party if she is not to go the way of Liz Truss.”
‘One trick pony’
One MP on the Left of the party warned she could be a bit of a “one trick pony” concerning the trans rights agenda.
“I’m not really convinced there are a huge number of people in this country who give a flying f— about these things as long as people aren’t being intolerant and impolite,” he said. “She talks very passionately and knowledgeably about it: it’s an area she is very interested in.”
“But the flipside of that is that her policy offer seems very bare on issues in which she cares much less. How will she reform the NHS, for example? What will she do to improve schools?”
“Where she has neither experience or interest, her boredom threshold is very low,” the MP said. “She is a fantastic delegator – which can almost be a way of handwashing or avoiding issues which do not interest you. An opposition leader needs to be more than a one-club golfer.”
Another on the Right of the party warned: “She doesn’t have the work rate or the people skills to be the best leader: she antagonises colleagues. I believe she has the right position on many things – such as fixing the broken system – but she won’t succeed because she does not have the necessary people skills, resilience, or the willingness to work in a team.
“There is a big question over how much she missed the opportunity of Brexit by getting the retained EU law position right, and she managed to antagonise the Brexiteers. It’s a very good example of how she can be better at antagonising rather than delivering.”
Robert Jenrick
What his supporters say
The former immigration minister’s biggest policy is that he will leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as a means of dealing with the small boats issue.
None of his leadership rivals – including Ms Badenoch – agreed.
His supporters said he resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government on principle last December, saying the prime minister’s emergency Rwanda legislation was not enough to tackle immigration.
“Rob brings conviction, competence and courage,” said a member of his campaign team.
“On the big issues which Conservative voters care about, he has set out clear and consistent policies which will deliver the trust of a deeply-sceptical public in our party.
“He offers serious change and serious policies, and an end to needless drama. The Conservative Party cannot keep going down rabbit holes; it can’t keep getting caught up in petty squabbling.”
As Tory MP Danny Kruger puts it, he is the most “substantial” of the candidates.
“Rob represents the position that is most likely to win back lost voters,” he said. “He is the candidate with the most appeal to Reform and Liberal Democrat defectors.
“He combines the best-thought out and robust policies on issues including migration, with a professionalism and reasonableness that will convince centrist voters that he is someone to trust as prime minister.
“He has a well-worked out vision for reform and boosting productivity. He’s not just the ‘migration candidate’, he has thought about policies on the economy and public services.”
‘Extremely hard-working’
Mr Kruger also highlighted his candidate’s character, which he said made him right for leadership of the opposition, as well as his capability behind the scenes.
“He’s extremely hard-working, clever and quick to grasp policy detail,” he said. “He can cope with the demands of the job: when it looked like he had gone backwards in the third ballot, he did not despair or get angry: he recognised it was a tough battle and just kept on with it. In other words he has good emotional balance.”
The MP also praised his abilities in the House of Commons. “He has an easy, fluent way. He speaks without notes and is very quick on his speech. He’s calm and clear.
“That’s the sort of person you need to contrast with this government which does not have a plan.”
Another MP said: “Rob has run the best campaign and he’s got a really clear analysis of why the party lost and what it needs to do to get back into power.
“He’s a good performer: in contrast with his rival he is not abrasive. People do not need to worry about him blowing up.
“He is right about immigration and right about net zero as well, but it is important that whoever wins needs to bring forward a broader vision on public services and the economy.”
What his rivals say
Others in the Conservative Party take a very different view over Jenrick’s qualities, particularly when it comes to his ECHR policy.
Some accuse him of having been radicalised in the Home Office to such an extent that he talks about his plans to leave the Convention to the detriment of policies more resonant with the general public.
Others say his policy on the ECHR just does not ring true: when he became an MP he was an ardent supporter of David Cameron’s centrist policies, and loudly campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum.
Some fear that Mr Jenrick will go back to his old centrist position once he has won the leadership election.
A centrist MP said: “Robert is actually socially very liberal but has somehow managed to attract this sort of Danny Kruger, John Hayes support – these people are on the old moral Right.
“I think he was radicalised by Braverman at the Home Office. Before that he was communities secretary and in all that time I never heard him wang on about immigration.”
A Badenoch supporter puts it more directly: “Rob is a fundamentally decent enough guy but he isn’t what he currently claims he is.
“He’s always been at the moderate centre of the Conservative Party. He voted Remain. He was a big Rishi supporter from the outset. What he wants is to occupy the centre ground of Tory politics.
“The fear has to be that he is basically being controlled by the same Right-wing of the Conservative Party that has led us into the mess we find ourselves in: where everyone treats Tory politics like it’s the mafia, people assassinating each other.
“All this stuff just isn’t Rob. You can tell he’s feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the things he’s having to say.”
Another questioned his resignation last December, which they say was a move to position himself for the next leadership battle against the Right-wing Tory party in the country.
‘Disrupt the party’
“It is possible to resign on a point of principle and still not disrupt the party,” he said. “What Rob did was to resign with maximum disruption. He turned what would have been a squall into a maelstrom.
“If he becomes leader and tries to put his arm round the shoulder of someone who is threatening to resign, urging them to go quietly – they will just turn round and say, like you did? What goes around comes around.”
The MP also said he was unsure that Mr Jenrick will be able to unite the party. “He seems to be suddenly declaring that people will have to sign up to this, that or the other to be able to serve as a shadow minister,” he said.
“That doesn’t seem to be team building. Badenoch and Cleverly don’t share his view on the ECHR: will they be able to join?
“It means that the only people he will be able to appoint are those who share his position implicitly and people willing to shed their principles for a shadow cabinet seat. You can’t say we are a broad church and then say if you don’t agree with me, you’re out.
“In any case: I’m not sure that if you go to the Dog and Duck you’ll find that the ECHR is the hot topic of the day. I worry that it’ll be the leader of the opposition after the next one who will be exhorting us all to stop banging on about the ECHR and to talk about what people are interested in.”
Another MP had a more piquant piece of criticism about Mr Jenrick’s pitch. “He has a very nice house in London, a manor house in Shropshire and his only grown-up job was working for Christie’s. If that’s your background, banging on about middle-class elites is a little rich.”