If Andy Burnham hadn’t already made an appearance – why stop at leading Labour when you can also lead the Tories? – then Robert Jenrick would definitely qualify as the Conservative party conference’s very own Andy. The unwanted guest at the wedding. The man who turns up at every fringe. Flutters his eyelids and says: ‘Who me? As leader? The thought never crossed my mind.’
Sadly for Kemi Badenoch, she can’t just starve Jenrick out. Pretend he doesn’t exist. As Honest Bob is her shadow justice secretary, she was rather obliged to give him a slot on the main stage. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He needed no second invitation. A chance to commune with his people. To look into their souls. To tell them that it wasn’t racist not to want too many black people together in one place.
