Is the Tory party ready for Kemi Badenoch? If the present leader, Rishi Sunak, loses power next year, the Tories would be wise to pause. For all the hysteria of modern Westminster, Sunak has steered his ship from a tempest into calmer waters with some dignity. But politics rarely forgives defeat. He has been an energetic and intelligent prime minister, and should surely be allowed to recover his party from anything less than a humiliating defeat. But parties tend to reward a challenge from a more extreme wing. Badenoch may well step in.
Everything in her record suggests she is something of a rarity. Unlike her rivals Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, Badenoch appears a tactical rather than a strident rightwinger. While hailing from the Brexit heartlands of Essex, she has become practised at championing an argued rather than a doctrinal Conservatism.
