Let’s be honest Kemi Badenoch has been pretty much useless as the Tory leader. All the oxygen on the Right of the party is being consumed by Nigel Farage who is proving to be the politician of his age.
Currently Kemi has not been able to grab a populist headline or think of a policy which can grab the ordinary voter. And I say this as somebody who wanted her to succeed and who has voted on the Right for four decades
And what’s worse is that it’s now clear the Conservatives picked the wrong one – it should have been Robert Jenrick who is more assured, more impressive and makes better points.
It does not surprise me that Kemi isn’t working.
PMQs victories against Keir Starmer won’t win Kemi Badenoch any votes.
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First of all making good points at PMQs against a hopeless Prime Minister like Starmer is no victory and nor does it encourage anybody to vote for you.
Take William Hague. Great in Parliament, unwanted in the country. PMQs don’t mean a damned thing. Today’s elections are won or lost online and very occasionally on a show like Question Time when you either make a great point or more likely drop a huge clanger.
But they are also won by great and innovative policies. Like selling council houses under Thatcher. A masterstroke. There is no sign of them coming out of Kemi’s leadership. This is no surprise as she has picked a bunch of duds as her close advisors and confidantes.
Take her immediate team. They were all employed at one stage or another by Michael Gove. A clever man but in this much more punchy populist political world completely unwanted.
Then look at the shadow Chancellor. I’ll remind you it’s Mel Stride. He would bring a tear to a glass eye. I want a Trumpian figure explaining how benefits need to be cut, how everybody is not entitled to PIP disability benefits and how we as a nation are skint.
The UK needs a Trumpian figure as Chancellor and Mel Stride wouldn’t cut it.
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I want Kemi to take on the trade unions. I want to her to tell Aslef and the RMT that their members are overpaid and they are going to cut their money by 25% and that they look forward to the strike as they will hand their jobs out to the thousands who will apply.
I hear nothing of this and that makes Kemi unelectable.
After all, in the polls the Tories are already 3% behind Reform. Who could possibly have forecast that? The nation doesn’t think Kemi is the answer and to be truthful they don’t think the Tories are it either.
So, come the county council elections in May, thanks to historic wins and also because Reform are doing so well, I expect it to be a dreadful night for Kemi. I don’t think she will survive and will be gone by the summer.