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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

Centrist Conservative group refuses to back Badenoch or Jenrick

Conservative party leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch (left) and Robert Jenrick
Kemi Badenoch (left) and Robert Jenrick have ‘focused on issues which are far and away from the party at its best’, the TRG said. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images

Senior Conservatives have warned that the party could split if Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick pursues an overtly populist path as leader, after the party’s main centrist group refused to endorse either candidate.

With moderate Tories still reeling from the shock ejection of James Cleverly from the contest, leaving a choice of two MPs firmly on the party’s right, shadow ministers and Tory MPs urged the pair to not overly focus on chasing Reform voters.

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