Kemi Badenoch will face an exposed Keir Starmer

Kemi Badenoch could probably already have served a truncated term as prime minister had she made different choices. Back at the turn of the year, key figures inside the secretive group behind the commissioning of giant MRP polls that indicated how badly the Tories would lose under Rishi Sunak hoped she might indicate her willingness to take over in response.

Instead, she played things safe, staying resolutely loyal to the then prime minister and not ‘playing the game’. So the bid to replace Sunak before the election ran out of steam and those involved cast around for an alternative right-wing champion, which they found in the form of Robert Jenrick.

Who knows how many Tory seats a six-month Badenoch premiership full of punchy right-wing home truths could have saved? Yet had she gone for it she would probably by now be looking at the highlights of her brilliant career via the rear-view mirror.