Kemi Badenoch has accused her Conservative leadership rivals of engaging in ‘dirty tricks’ by spreading damaging claims about her past—here’s the full story.
“Dirty Tricks”
Kemi Badenoch, the shadow Business Secretary and right-wing culture warrior par excellence, has launched a blistering attack on an unnamed rival for the leadership, who she has accused of using “dirty tricks” to undermine her prospects.
Smear Campaign
Though she has not formally announced her candidacy, Badenoch, who is a frontrunner in the race, has faced a smear campaign against her, which involves accusations of controversial comments made online nearly two decades ago.
Controversial Dossier
The controversy began with the circulation of a dossier, first reported by the right-wing Spectator magazine, which alleges that Badenoch was behind a series of abusive blog comments made 17 years ago. The comments, which surfaced on a Nigerian website, included derogatory remarks about Labour MP Diane Abbot and racist stereotypes of Thai and Nigerian women.
“Rude World Changers”
One of the more contentious posts attributed to Badenoch read, “Most of the people who changed the world, for good, were notoriously rude. It was the bad people, Idi Amin, Hitler etc who were charming and respectful. People like you would have been defending them that they were good people because they had good manners. Robert Mugabe was also once known for his good manners!!”
Amusing or Alarming
Badenoch, who has a history of making controversial statements while in government, responded to the allegations on social media, arguing that the situation was “amusing/alarming” and indicative of the “extraordinary lengths people will go to play dirty tricks.”
Twitter Attack
In a lengthy Twitter threat, Badenoch attacked an unnamed Guardian journalist for attempting to investigate the claims, a move she described as encouraging them to break the civil service code, and then expressed her disdain for the current lows political discourse has reached.
Petty Political Discourse
She argued that the dossier and the attacks on her showed “how so much of the discourse across the political spectrum is obsessed with the petty and the puerile.” She added, “We can do better than this and I will be saying and writing more about how, in due course.”
Social Media Reactions
Despite Badenoch’s defence, many on social media quickly pointed out that if the current political debate had become “petty” and “puerile”, much of the blame could be laid at the feet of the previous Conservative government, and even Badenoch herself.
Confident Candidacy
Despite the allegations, Badenoch’s team remained confident in her potential candidacy, with a spokesperson for her as yet unannounced candidacy confidently stating that it was “in no danger of not having the numbers” of nominations required for a leadership run.
Leadership Frontrunner
Badenoch, who previously ran for leadership and finished fourth after Boris Johnson’s resignation, is seen as a frontrunner due to her strong right-wing views and appeal among party members. However, a recent poll for Savanta found that, though all Conservative leadership contenders had negative favorability ratings with the pubic, Badenoch’s were the third worst at -12.
Unpopular Candidates
The other publicly unpopular leadership candidates so far include James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride. Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, both former home secretaries, are also expected to join the race, further intensifying the already rapidly warming competition within the Conservative Party.
Need for Unity
Stride, the latest to announce his candidacy, stressed the need for the party to unify and stop the infighting and backstabbing indicative of the recent attacks on Badenoch.
Party in Trouble
Speaking to the BBC’s Breakfast programme, Stride stated, “What we know from the general election is that we’re in a very, very difficult place as a party, and I worry about that because I care about my party and I care about my country.”
Bridging Divides
Stride, attempting to position himself as a less factional figure capable of bridging divides within the party, added, “People are not going to vote for a party that’s at each other’s throats all the time.”
Ruthless Rivalries
As the Conservative leadership contest heats up, Badenoch’s accusations of “dirty tricks” highlight the intense and often ruthless nature of Conservative political rivalries, which will only intensify as the leadership race drags on.
Rudderless Party
In the meantime, the Conservative Party, despite having interim leadership from former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has been left rudderless and largely unable to counter the prevailing political narrative of a country left in ruin after 14 years of Tory rule, which Labour has put forward since winning their landslide election victory.
Leadership Contest Begins
With the formal leadership contest set to begin next week and continuing right up until November, it remains to be seen whether the leadership candidates can work together in the hopes of starting to correct the future direction of the Conservative Party or whether the factionalism and infighting of the last few years will only be accelerated.
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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / B. Lenoir.