Kemi Badenoch has said she ‘won’t be blown off course’ from holding Labour to account, as she took aim at recent Tory defectors to Reform and the Conservatives trying to drag the party back to the centre.
In a speech on Wednesday, Mrs Badenoch likened the recent wave of high-profile defectors to Reform to children ‘having tantrums’ and asserted the Conservatives as ‘the only party of the right’.
This week, former home secretary Suella Braverman defected to Nigel Farage‘s party – making her the third sitting Tory MP to join Reform in less than two weeks.
Mrs Badenoch had previously sacked Robert Jenrick from his position as shadow justice secretary and removed the whip after learning of his plans to defect in ‘a way designed to be as damaging as possible’ to the Conservative party.
Romford’s Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell resigned the Tory whip three days later, while former Tory chancellor Nadim Zahawi defected after he was refused an appointment to the Lords, the Conservatives claim.
In a stinging rebuke to her former colleagues, Mrs Badenoch said on Wednesday: ‘To those who are defecting who don’t actually disagree with our policies, I will say: ‘I’m sorry you didn’t win the leadership contest.
In a speech on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch likened the recent wave of high-profile defectors to Reform to children ‘having tantrums’ and asserted the Conservatives as ‘the only party of the right’
This week, former home secretary Suella Braverman defected to Nigel Farage’s party – making her the third sitting Tory MP to join Reform in less than two weeks
‘I’m sorry you didn’t get a job in the shadow cabinet.
‘I’m sorry you didn’t get into the Lords, but you are not offering a plan to fix this country.
‘This is a tantrum dressed up as politics.’
She added: ‘There are people in politics who don’t really know what they are doing or why. They just want to be in the world. They want to be on top. They want access, attention and advancement. And when they don’t get their way they create drama.
‘What we need are people who are going to help get Britain working again, and that means we have to be a truly Conservative party.
‘So I won’t apologise to those walking away because they don’t like the new direction. We only want Conservatives.’
While Mrs Badenoch has insisted Mr Farage has done her ‘spring cleaning’ for her by accepting Tory MPs who have been ‘repeatedly sacked from Government’, a recent YouGov poll suggests one in nine Britons view Reform more positively after the defections.
And according to the data, one in five (22 per cent) of those voting Conservative at the 2024 general election said recent defections made them view Reform more positively.
Mr Farage told the Daily Mail this suggests the appeal of Reform is ‘broadening’, despite some pointing to support plateauing for his party in recent public opinion polls.
He added: ‘The Tories in Government put us through years of psychodrama. They are done.’
But Mrs Badenoch said the Conservatives under her leadership are ‘about the future, not the past’, and are not refighting the battles of 2006 or 2016.
This comes as Conservative figures Sir Andy Street and Baroness Ruth Davidson this week launched ‘Prospect’, a group trying to pull the Tory party back to the centre to capture millions of ‘politically homeless’ voters.
Conservative figures Sir Andy Street and Baroness Ruth Davidson this week launched ‘Prospect’, a group trying to pull the Tory party back to the centre to capture millions of ‘politically homeless’ voters
Mr Street was mayor of the West Midlands between 2017 and 2024, while Ms Davidson led the Scottish Conservative Party between 2011 and 2019.
In response, Mrs Badenoch warned that those pushing other agendas are ‘not being helpful’ and that the Tories need to ‘move away from any sort of factionalism or groupings’.
The Tory leader also called on the Prime Minister to apologise for his involvement in pursuing criminal investigations of soldiers wrongly accused of causing deaths in Iraq, revealed on Wednesday by the Telegraph.
She said the way that veterans had been harassed through the courts is a ‘complete disgrace’ and said the Tories are ‘doing everything’ they can to protect them.
‘What Labour is doing with its legislation it is doing because it does not believe in our veterans – whether it’s Keir Starmer or his Attorney General Lord Hermer – where they have had the opportunity pro bono, not cab rank, they have gone to help the people who are acting against our country’s national interest.
‘Those veterans put their lives on the line to defend us, and I want them to know that the Conservative Party will always have their back.’
