Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservative Party under Rishi Sunak’s leadership did not deserve to win the general election on 4 July.
The Conservatives were reduced to 121 seats at the recent election as Labour under Keir Starmer recorded a historic victory.
The party’s defeat, after 14 years in government, led to Sunak’s resignation as prime minister and Conservative Party leader. Badenoch is one of four Tory MPs vying to replace him in the latter role.
Asked on Sky News if the Conservative Party deserved to lose, Badenoch replied: “I don’t think that we deserved to win. People didn’t understand what we stood for.”
She argued that from the perspective of voters, it appeared that the government was not delivering. “We need to be able to show that we would do what we say, and also do what we mean”, she added.
Pivotting to her agenda as a Conservative leadership candidate, Badenoch said: “I have cut-through because I speak with conviction and clarity. The public want that”.
It was put to the former business and trade secretary that the electorate knew exactly what the Conservative Party stood for, having witnessed the rolling revelations of “partygate” under Boris Johnson and the stunning implosion of Liz Truss’ premiership.
The shadow housing secretary disagreed with the remark and, in a swipe at the current administration, insisted: “There will always be problems in any government.”
Badenoch went on to assert that her pitch in the Conservative leadership contest centres not on policies, but about going back to “first principles” to earn the trust of the electorate once again.
“What do we believe in? Personal responsibility. We haven’t talked about those things as much. Freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association.”
“We’ve stopped talking about principles. That’s what people buy into when they’re voting for a political party, not just the latest managerial policy you may be throwing out.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on X/Twitter here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
