The big question over Kemi Badenoch’s bid

Kemi Badenoch has just completed her leadership launch. Although she is an outside bet, her campaign has been building momentum after Michael Gove endorsed her and she came a narrow second in a ConHome poll on who should be the next Tory leader. The launch saw her try to put the flesh on the bones of her pitch to MPs – which so far has been dominated by identity politics. In a flick to her position on culture wars, the toilets at the venue had paper signs put on them so they weren’t gender neutral.

In her speech, Badenoch was all too happy to put clear blue water between herself and Boris Johnson, saying politicians ought to be honest that people can’t have their cake and eat it. She also said tax ought not be the defining debate in the contest, it should be the candidate’s judgment:

‘Governing involves trade-offs, and we need to start being honest about that.