After winning the Conservative party’s protracted post-election leadership contest, Kemi Badenoch gave a short, rather downbeat speech. It was not quite “blood, toil, tears and sweat”, but it wasn’t too far off. Badenoch said the tasks in front of the party were “tough but simple”: to oppose and scrutinise the government, tell the truth, and renew. The problem is that these three tasks may be even tougher than the new leader thinks.
When it comes to scrutinising the government, opposition MPs need to be constantly active, asking written and oral questions, leading debates and setting the agenda. They need to be using their power to ask difficult questions and cause problems for the government.
Badenoch acknowledged that her party has “very few MPs” after its election defeat, so can’t stop votes. But, she argued, they could “win the argument”.
