Is Kemi Badenoch running scared? It’s not an accusation often levelled at the shadow housing secretary, who is usually criticised for being too keen on a scrap. Badenoch’s campaign team say she wants to tell the Conservatives ‘hard truths’, and that she is the opponent Keir Starmer would most dread across the despatch box. But for all her pugnaciousness, Badenoch isn’t the candidate pressing for a face-off with her opponent.
Badenoch has no need to debate, and it makes tactical sense for her to avoid it
Yesterday Robert Jenrick asked the BBC to host a TV debate between him and Badenoch. He is apparently happy to debate his rival ‘any time, anywhere’, but ‘sources close to’ Badenoch say she is keener to spend her time meeting members. Badenoch’s Twitter feed shows her shaking hands with Conservative MPs and sitting down with activists. On Saturday she was in Oxfordshire meteing concillors and the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner.
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