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Braverman hits back at Badenoch over ‘breakdown’ comments
Ex-home secretary accuses potential leadership rival of failing to speak out about Tories’ doomed bid for re-election in time
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Suella Braverman has hit back at Kemi Badenoch over her claim that she is having a “very public” nervous breakdown.
A war of words between the two potential Tory leadership rivals flared after Mrs Badenoch suggested to the first meeting of the new shadow cabinet on Tuesday that many colleagues were still traumatised by the size of the Tory defeat.
She said Mrs Braverman, who had criticised Rishi Sunak before the polls closed, appeared to be having a “very public” nervous breakdown.
The former home secretary has hit back, accusing the shadow housing secretary of failing to speak out about the Tories’ doomed bid for re-election before it was too late.
She questioned whether Mrs Badenoch’s comments were appropriate for a prospective leader of the party, adding: “What Kemi says about me says something about her too. I don’t think she’s going to see what that is any time soon, though.”
Mrs Braverman was sacked by Mr Sunak after demanding tougher action over legal and illegal migration and the policing of pro-Palestinian protests.
She suggested Mrs Badenoch was complicit in the Tory wipeout by failing to challenge Mr Sunak earlier. The election saw the Tories lose 244 seats as Labour gained 209, giving Sir Keir Starmer’s party a landslide majority of 172.
Mrs Braverman said: “The people who enabled him before, by saying nothing, are on great form now. You’re going to get tired of how beautifully that barn door is closed now.”
During the shadow cabinet meeting, Mrs Badenoch said Mr Sunak’s decision to call an early election without first informing the Cabinet was a mistake and bordered on being unconstitutional.
She called his decision to return early from D-Day commemorations “disastrous”, and was said to be concerned that colleagues were failing to grasp the enormity of the Tory defeat.
Mrs Badenoch is seen as the front-runner in the race for the Tory leadership, which has yet to be officially launched. Both Mrs Braverman and Mrs Badenoch, along with Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, are vying for support on the Right of the party.
She wrote on X, formerly Twitter:
Mrs Braverman has been the most outspoken critic of Mr Sunak, warning before the election that his “plan is not working,” and forecasting a Tory wipeout.
This week, she said “smearing” Reform UK and its voters was not an effective strategy for the Conservatives to win back support.
However, she has faced a backlash from some Tories over her comments and suffered a blow to her prospective leadership bid when Danny Kruger, a campaign organiser in her last bid for the leadership, switched his support to Mr Jenrick.
A poll by JL Partners of 8,030 voters and 502 Conservative members put her ahead of any of her potential rivals in match-ups. She beat Mrs Badenoch by 35 per cent to 31 per cent, Tom Tugendhat by 37 per cent to 31 per cent, and James Cleverly by 39 per cent to 34 per cent.
The public polling placed Mrs Braverman as the top choice to be the next Conservative leader, on 10 per cent of the vote, with Mr Tugendhat closely behind on nine. But an overwhelming 61 per cent answered “don’t know”.
One ally of Mrs Braverman claimed it was one reason why a “Get Suella” campaign was “in full swing”.
Meanwhile, a senior Conservative MP insisted that Mr Sunak was “not rushing out the door as some previous leaders have done”.
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Sir Bernard Jenkin, who sits on the executive of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs. said that Mr Sunak was “giving the party time to breathe” in the wake of the defeat.
The Tory leader addressed the assembled backbenchers on Wednesday evening and was “sorrowful and apologetic”, Sir Bernard said.
The MP for Harwich and North Essex said that he did not “rule out an interim leader” for the Conservative Party ahead of a leadership election, but added: “I don’t think it will be necessary”.
There were however signs of tension among backbenchers in attendance, with Sir Edward Leigh demanding that there should be a leadership election “now”.
Asked who he wanted to lead the party, the Father of the House said: “I have my ideas. It will be a strong Right-wing candidate”.