Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick have attacked each other’s visions for the future of the Conservative party, in a sometimes low-key debate which could nonetheless prove significant in who becomes the next opposition leader. The event on GB News, the only debate scheduled, involved the pair taking turns to tackle questions from audience members rather than going head to head, but featured notable differences of opinion on strategy and policies such as immigration. Jenrick, going first, repeatedly pledged to “end the drama” in the Tory party, seen as a coded reference to Badenoch’s sometimes combustible approach. Badenoch was polite about her opponent as a person but scathing when it came to his suite of headline policies, notably Jenrick’s repeated pledge to immediately quit the European convention on human rights (ECHR), which he again styled on Thursday as a Brexit-type “leave or remain” issue. Badenoch argued the idea was a distraction from bigger worries and not properly thought-out.
“We need to stop blaming the EU or international agreements and start fixing problems here ourselves,” she said. Leaving the ECHR was “not dissimilar to leaving the EU in terms of the consequences”, Badenoch said, in that there could be significant repercussions for Northern Ireland, where the convention forms an integral part of the peace process. Badenoch, who gained noticably more applause than Jenrick from the audience of Tory members and won a post-event show of hands, criticised Jenrick’s policy focus, saying that with an election still far away, the party needed to first look at its fundamentals. “This is not a general election,” she said. “We had one of those already, and we lost. This leadership contest is not a test of who can make the biggest promises. It is about character. It is about conviction.” In response, a spokesperson for Jenrick said: “Politicians should have policies – they do matter. We won’t regain people’s trust unless we set out what we’d do differently this time.” Jenrick used much of his time to stress his policies, notably on migration, saying that his pledges had left Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, “rattled”. “He doesn’t want someone to lead this party with my track record, someone who actually has credibility on these issues, like immigration, who resigned on principle over it, and someone who has my policies,” Jenrick said. Jenrick also made an impassioned argument for less state involvement in matters like public health, saying he vehemently opposed proposals to ban smoking in pub gardens.
“This government waited 14 years in opposition to have the opportunity to serve this country, and that is their priority,” he said. “Where is the vision for this country? Where is the boldness? This is a government that is so new and so stale. I think that is a stupid priority.” Badenoch used her time to reiterate her broader pitch to “rewire” government and the country, based around a smaller state and a greater focus on families. She hit back vehemently at accusations she had been part of a bullying and toxic culture as a minister, claiming she had removed problematic staff from her department who had then “run to the Guardian to tell lies about me”. Badenoch also defended her often combative approach to culture war issues, saying it was “doing what is right for our country – following our conviction, being brave and not being scared because the Guardian or whoever is going to mock us”. With ballots being sent to party members this week and the winner due to be announced on 2 November, the debate could be the only televised set-piece event of the contest, with other mooted events on the BBC and the Sun’s YouTube channel mired in disagreements over format. While the response to both candidates was generally warm and the questions unchallenging, there is evidence that not every Tory member is pleased with being forced to make a choice between two candidates from the populist right of the party, after James Cleverly was removed in the final round of MPs’ voting. A poll of Conservative councillors this week by Savanta found that almost half believe neither Jenrick nor Badenoch will be able to win the next election, and a significant minority said they did not plan to vote in the leadership contest.