Rumours swirling round SW1 of various plots to oust Rishi after the local elections may be keeping up the pressure on the PM for while. First we had Kemi, then Penny, and now Tom Tugendhat’s name is cropping up. Badenoch and Tugendhat have dismissed the claims. Tory MPs have been saying the mood has very much changed in Parliament this week after the Sundays’ splash of the ‘plot’. Whether or not they’ll be successful in getting a new leader before the election is yet to be seen, though judging by the polls, the Tories will likely have a new one after the election…
Robert Jenrick, a man who appeals to the Tory right on issues such as immigration, has told friends that he will be running for leader, whenever that contest is – before or after the election. He did refuse to rule out running for leader back in January. It looks like Suella may not be the Tory right favourite anymore, so perhaps the final two in a contest may be whittled down to Jenrick and Penny/Tom. Whenever the new leader is put in place, it’ll be about fighting for the next election, not this one…
At last night’s Next Gen Tories event in a crowded Morpeth Arms Robert Jenrick, still sporting his “Caesar” haircut, set out his stall for the future of the Tories, arguing that housing is the golden ticket – “which I’ve probably done more on, to my cost, than anybody in Parliament“. Jenrick explained that “the polling is terrible among young people” and “there is a fatalistic attitude in our party today“, while his recent trips to Europe and Texas have proved that right-wing parties can do well with young people. He quipped that Sunak said: “If we get flights off the ground to Rwanda, you’ll be on the first one there”…
Jenrick said that the Tories’ failure to execute zonal planning reform in 2021 was “one of the greatest missed opportunities of this parliament… Boris himself would accept that.” As a result, the government’s continued failure to deliver the pledge “locked our country in a cycle of slow growth”. Meanwhile, negative growth is now kiboshing Sunak’s electoral plans…
When a co-conspirator asked Jenrick about Guido’s story on vital leasehold reform, he agreed that Parliament must “consign leasehold to the history books” as a “historic feudal system” with no place in modern Britain – and set an end date in stone. Jenrick and Gove should get together to push through that “unfinished Conservative revolution”…
As the Tory train clatters towards the election well behind in the polls, the leadership challengers are well and truly out of the traps. Guido has a round up of the latest bumps in the road to the next leadership race…
Penny Mordaunt: Penny’s clearly had an interest in this week’s totally coincidental Deltapoll survey finding that Tory voters think only she could defeat Starmer. Directing her guns on Labour (rather than highlighting her own policies) in an early attempt to appeal to Tory members…
Grant Shapps: The Defence Secretary is currently busy handling the nuclear fallout after an embarrassing fail let a Trident missile to misfire and crash into the ocean while he was on board HMS Vanguard. He will be relying on his usual media sang froid over the next few days as the details of this nuclear mess play out…
Kemi Badenoch: The culture warrior is consumed in a growing public bust up with former Post Office chair Henry Staunton. Staunton has been fighting back against Kemi’s accusation that his claim he was told to delay pay-outs to sub-postmasters ahead of the next general election was a “blatant attempt to seek revenge” against the government. The spat doesn’t look like it will ease up anytime soon. Tory chatter is talking this issue up the agenda – handling it well will be crucial for Kemi…
James Cleverly: The ConHome table topper is now having a difficult time in the Home Office. This week he sacked his border chief who spoke out on immigration ‘security failings’ – and who had several reports sat on by the Home Office. Remains to be seen whether Cleverly’s chances will be hamstrung by the policy crisis over illegal immigration…
Michael Gove: His latest legislative attack on landlords and second home owners will continue to upset many Tories. He continues to deny that Badenoch is his placeholder…
Jeremy Hunt: Will Hunt have another crack at it? He did say in 2022 that his ambition to be leader had not “vanished“. The budget will be a litmus test with a membership crying out for tax cuts…
Robert Jenrick: The former immigration minister has been the most vocal about a leadership bid, repeatedly refusing to rule it out. He’s gone quiet recently…
Suella Braverman: Many saw Suella’s resignation letter as Home Secretary to be the start of a leadership pitch. It suffered from a lack of follow up. Is she off the pitch..?
Do report any and all leadership maneuverings or evidence of plotting. It’s going to be a long year…
Last night hardliners on the Rwanda bill tabled their first amendments aiming to iron out “loopholes which could mean it’s held up in the courts“. The amendments are supported by over 30 MPs to the Tory right before the bill goes to committee stage on the 16th and 17th of the month. Meanwhile Robert Buckland wants to table some wet amendments of his own…
Miriam Cates this morning said it’s the “third time lucky we hope – that’s why we’ve laid these amendments“. Jenrick is claiming he wants to “win the argument” and won’t say whether he will vote against the bill at the third reading, though he will “consider” it. In the meantime at the One Nation Conservatives New Year drinks last night Matt Warman warned: “We know that the government is at its best when its bravest legislation is on the right side of international law, unamended“. Sunak still refuses to specify whether he would ignore an Order 39 injunction. Recipe for a blow-up…
See a full list of the MPs who have signed the amendments below:
