Badenoch’s team briefed yesterday that they were “slightly concerned at possible narrowing of the race… ConHome poll tomorrow rumoured to be positive for Jenrick.” At which point Deputy Editor Henry Hill made clear that he was the only one with the ability to see the score, and even he hadn’t checked it…
The final event in ConHome’s closely-watched leadership polling series has Kemi leading by 24 points at 55%. Jenrick sits on 31% and 14% say they don’t know. Kemi is up 4 points from the beginning of September, Jenrick is down 3. A decisive lead. The poll is of 828 members – the largest number so far…
Jenrick is giving a speech on foreign policy and defence this morning. He better hope it makes an impression…
It’s Badenoch’s turn now on GB News. A short pitch, then questions from members and Chris Hope…
Read live updates below:
As Tory members start casting their ballots, Jenrick and Kemi continue to bicker about the future of…leadership debates. Last week, Guido reported that The Sun’s “Never Mind the Ballots” debate was scrapped, with both leadership camps spinning their own tales about why. Now Jenrick is demanding a debate on BBC Question Time, saying he was “delighted to accept” their invitation. Though CCHQ’s rules, laid out back in July, are clear: “all candidates must agree not to participate in any televised hustings unless arranged by the Party Chairman.” Jenrick might be jumping the gun there…
Now it’s reported that Team Jenrick is alleging CCHQ is blocking further leadership debates because Party Chairman Richard Fuller—who’s meant to keep neutral—is secretly backing Badenoch. Worth remembering Fuller did vote in the final two round of MP votes, despite claiming he wouldn’t….
Meanwhile, Jenrick effectively sacked Fuller over the weekend, announcing he’d be bringing Jacob Rees-Mogg in as Chairman, a move that Guido hears didn’t go down too well at CCHQ. Now, Team Jenrick is going on the offensive. Yellow cards, anyone?
UPDATE: A spokesperson for Richard Fuller said: “The chairman is and has remained neutral throughout the contest. TV debates and hustings are to be agreed by the party board and are for the campaign teams to decide to commit to.”
Kemi and Jenrick’s campaign leaflets have been fired off to the members ahead of the final vote. The fight for the right drags on…
Kemi focuses on the fact she’s an “engineer” and that’s who’s needed to “fix the system“. To clarify for co-conspirators, she worked in IT as a software engineer for 3 years. There’s plenty of talk on renewal, growth, net zero and shrinking the state. She also whacks up a poll that shows she’s the “choice to defeat Labour”. Notably Jenrick’s name is nowhere to be seen on that…
Meanwhile, Jenrick ditches any polls, instead putting in place a ‘letter’ to the members. He lays out a six-point plan which includes capping migration, leaving the ECHR, up defence spending to 3% GDP, and bring in a low-tax revolution. Campaign in poetry…
See the two leaflets below:
As ballot papers are being sent to the doormats of thousands of Tory members, the leadership race is heating up. Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch are playing two very different games. Jenrick’s going all out on the media rounds as well as doing two televised speeches and Q&As (so far). Meanwhile, Kemi’s giving the press the cold shoulder, noticeably absent from the airwaves, instead opting to post an old Q&A clip from 2022. No surprise there considering Kemi’s had her fair share of bust-ups with the media…
Meanwhile, Popular Conservatism have given Kemi the slap for dodging their questions—slapped Kemi down for dodging their emailed questions—a set Jenrick happily answered—and are now supporting Rob. Though Liz Truss has since made it clear that doesn’t mean she’s throwing her weight behind him. Kemi has instead decided to take her pitch directly to the membership, travelling across the country to appeal to the members. One Badenoch backer, with a bit of shade, tells Guido:
“Campaigns that are trailing have to try and make up the gap with constant media appearances and demands for debates. It just all bears the strong whiff of desperation.”
Their first head-to-head debate will be tomorrow on GB News at 7 p.m. Expect some spicy blue-on-blue attack lines…
The debate between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick on The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots has been pulled, just over a week before it was set to air next Thursday. Naturally, there’s spin coming from both leadership camps as to why…
Guido hears Kemi dropped out having complained of host Harry Cole being “overly-critical” of her in previous interviews, while Team Kemi insist she was “happy to do” the debate, and that it was NewsUK who pulled it. BBC Question Time have offered to fill the slot, which Jenrick has already accepted. Wherever the debate, co-conspirators can be sure to expect some blue-on-blue attacks...
