Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
In her first 48 hours as Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch has said aspects of ‘Partygate’ were overblown, and at the same time that her party needs to win back the public’s trust. She may find this is not the way to go about it.
Badenoch is the first Black woman to lead a major British party and was already MPs’ and activists’ favourite at the start of its protracted leadership contest. She shoots from the hip, or appears to – maternity pay may be “excessive”, some civil servants are so bad they should be in prison – and could prove livelier at prime minister’s questions than the prime minister.
But she prevailed over Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly in a selection process that had echoes of a Republican primary. It lurched to the right, obsessing over culture wars and immigration even though elections in the UK are still won from the middle.
Badenoch, a Brexiter, has said she’s from the liberal wing of her party and may have to tack back in that direction to stand a chance of rebuilding it. The Tories have fewer MPs (121) than at any time since the 1830s.
