Tory patience wears thin as Badenoch’s critics count down to May elections

One of Tory leader’s disgruntled backbenchers set up a countdown clock on social media of the days left until Conservative rules allow rivals to mount a challenge. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

At an opulent speakeasy-style event at the Raffles hotel on Whitehall this week, the great and the good of what is left of the Conservative party marked the Spectator’s parliamentarian of the year awards.

With the magazine’s editorial line still just about backing the Tories, despite the party facing an existential crisis from Reform UK, it was unsurprising that much of the gossip at the champagne-fuelled event was about whether Kemi Badenoch’s job was at risk.