Hacks and MPs were refusing to call whether Kemi or Jenrick would be the next to drop out of the leadership race today. Most punted that it’d be Cleverly squaring off against one of them. What they didn’t see coming was Cleverly—yesterday’s frontrunner—getting booted out instead. If co-conspirators were watching, they could hear gasps from the Committee room and from presenters on Sky News…
Tongues are wagging over how this shock result came about. Yesterday Team Cleverly were more than confident he would enter the final two. One senior Tory MP claims that Cleverly ‘lent’ too many votes to Jenrick in a spectacular own goal, fearing Badenoch more. Though James supporters insist he wasn’t trying to be Clever(ly) about fixing the vote…
Westminster insiders suggest both Jenrick and Badenoch lent their votes yesterday to inflate the popularity of Cleverly. Tory wets say that Jenrick supporters lent somewhere around 6 votes to Cleverly yesterday – rebuffed by claims that Cleverly’s lead was just too soft. Were too many MPs playing 4D chess?
A Kemi campaign spokesman said:
“We’re delighted that Kemi has topped the vote. As the members’ choice throughout, she is the best placed to unite the parliamentary party and the Conservative Party membership. Kemi is now looking forward to taking her campaign for renewal around the country and making the case for politics with principles.”
Jenrick now pitches himself to media as the potential leader “changed” and “serious party”. He pushed the fact that he differs with Kemi on immigration, wanting a cap on migration and to leave the ECHR.
It’ll be a feisty battle between the two right-wingers largely focused on immigration, culture and ideology rather than public services like the NHS and schools. Campaigns won’t hold back targeting each others’ character and personality. Most of the blue-on-blue attacks so far have come from them…
Paula Barker, Liverpool Wavertree MP backing Andy Burnham, told Times Radio there wouldn’t be trouble from the markets under Burnham:
“The markets will have to fall in line.”