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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
John Crace

Kemi gaslights UK with her shadow cabinet while having a laugh

Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch looking at each other after the Conservative leadership announcement with people sitting in the background
No one could possibly doubt Kemi was right to appoint Honest Bob to the shadow cabinet. Few have achieved as little as him in the last 10 years. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Spare a thought for the losers. Not those like James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Steve Barclay. Or Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Dowden, who politely declined all offers to serve in the shadow cabinet. They had their self-worth to consider. Hard to believe, but true nonetheless.

Instead, consider those who desired high office – if that isn’t an oxymoron for the shadow cabinet. Take Suella Braverman and Esther McVey. Gutted to have been overlooked. Their credentials impeccable. Both with an unblemished track record of insanity and incompetence. How much more useless did they have to be for Kemi Badenoch to give them the nod? Imagine the insult. Thought to be less hopeless than Priti Patel or Chris Philp. You’re never going to recover from that. Just left to wander the backbenches.

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