The traditional test of effectiveness in a leader of the opposition is whether the holder of that office looks like a prime minister in waiting. It is famously hard to achieve when fronting a party that was recently expelled from office.
Kemi Badenoch is struggling with that challenge in most areas, but especially with regard to immigration and asylum. Mrs Badenoch has warned that “Britain is being mugged” by foreigners who treat the country as “the world’s softest touch”. She has urged Conservative-run local authorities to follow the example of Epping council, which this week was granted an injunction by the high court to prevent asylum seekers being housed in hotels. On that point she had already been upstaged by Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, who joined protests at the hotel in question, mingling in a crowd alongside notorious far-right activists.
