Kemi Badenoch says Conservatives 'talked right but governed left' as she launches leadership bid
2 September 2024, 17:33
Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has accused her party of "talking right but governing left" while in power as she made her bid to the public today.
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Former business secretary Ms Badenoch, who sits as the bookies’ favourite to be named the next Conservative leader, pitched herself to voters as the only candidate willing to tell the honest truth.
She said: "A government that tried to do everything will likely end up achieving nothing.
"This was one of our mistakes," she said.
Read more: James Cleverly pledges to bring back Rwanda scheme as he launches bid to become Conservative leader
"We talked right but governed left, sounding like Conservatives but acting like Labour.
"Government should do fewer things, but what it does, it should do with brilliance."
Hitting out at the Labour government, she accused Sir Keir Starmer of "trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public" about the UK's finances.
"The British people are yearning for something better, and this Labour government is not it," she said.
"They are already making worse mistakes than we did."
Dismissing claims she was too concerned with culture wars, Ms Badenoch said she has a record of dealing with "very, very tricky issues like race and gender".
"I didn't run away. And not only did I not run away, I defended people who needed help, and I dragged Labour onto our turf," she added.
Former Foreign James Cleverly also launched his leadership bid today, pledging to bring back the Rwanda policy and increase defence spending to 3% of GDP.
"The parliamentary party needs to lead by example," he said.
"We must be unified, we must be disciplined - and unity is not the easy option, it is the harder option."
He said: "Starmer, in an act of vandalism, has scrapped that.
"You cannot penny-pinch your way to peace. Security is delivered through strength. By planning for the worst, not hoping for the best.
"We will send a signal to our enemies that the British are prepared. We will not leave the field."
Mr Cleverly added that the UK currently spends "10 times" more on health, welfare and pensions than on defence.
He added: "Starmer says we can't afford to spend more on defence. I say we can't afford not to."
The attacks on the Prime Minister continued as Mr Cleverly insisted that only a united Conservative Party would be taken seriously by a public he believes will quickly lose faith in Labour.
He said: "We must unite if you want the British people to listen to us again, so when they are fed up, as they inevitably will be with Starmer's inept, high-taxing, red tape-loving, big state, crony-filled government, they will look to us again to be the change that they want to see in this country."
Mr Cleverly accused Labour of an "arrogant and callous disregard for diplomatic niceties that bind the world", claiming the Government informed the media that the scheme would be scrapped before notifying the Rwandan government.
Conservative Party members will choose their next leader in November as James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride, Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel battle it out to be named leader of the opposition.
