Londoner’s Diary
Kemi Badenoch’s Tory leadership campaign is in full swing after she officially launched it earlier today. The campaign is styled as Renewal 2030 and there is already an online merchandise shop where loyal supporters can buy Renewal 2030 branded notebooks, mugs and hoodies.
Anyone who signs up to the campaign’s mailing list can then join the Renewal 2030 WhatsApp group, which currently has over 500 members. It’s easy to see who is supporting Badenoch and running her campaign, as the phone numbers of all the group members and admins, including Badenoch’s press officer, SpAds and former Tory MP Rachel Maclean, are listed.
The group is designed for Badenoch supporters to stay up to date with campaign announcements and share their visions of a future Tory government. But some group members have taken to expressing their support for Badenoch in novel ways, including limericks about the MP for North West Essex. “We know Kemi's got the right stuff / And won't fail when the going gets tough / Tom James Mel and Bobby / Don't delight the lobby / So Ms Badenoch's the one up to snuff,” reads one.
In a nod to her early career as a software engineer, Badenoch’s official campaign launch was held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Central London. “Getting my engineering degree was much harder than running for the leadership of the Conservative party,” she joked to the audience. Badenoch argued that “this country desperately needs an engineer” as a leader.
As well as criticising both her own party and Labour, Badenoch hit out at the new pro-Gaza independent MPs in parliament. “When everyone was talking about the five new Reform MPs I was far, far more worried about the five new MPs elected on the back of sectarian Islamist politics, alien ideas that have no place here,” she said.
Topical bevs for @KemiBadenoch’s campaign launch pic.twitter.com/wKtj36c82t
— Noa Cohen (@NBC789) September 2, 2024
While Priti Patel served mango lassis at her campaign launch, Badenoch’s offering was the slightly less appealing “room temperature Coke Zero” – her beverage of choice in meetings.
