Revealed: Kemi Badenoch volunteered to switch departments to shadow Angela Rayner as Tory Housing Secretary to 'hold her feet to the fire'
- Kemi Badenoch had been business and trade secretary before general election
- One of her first targets is Angela Rayner's planned new Race Equality Act
- She believes proposed new law amounts to 'classifying your workforce by race'
Kemi Badenoch volunteered to shadow Angela Rayner to 'hold her feet to the fire', The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The Tory leadership contender specifically asked to switch departments to take on the Housing Secretary, and the pair are set for fiery showdowns in the Commons.
When Rishi Sunak was deciding his Shadow Cabinet, he asked each member of his top team if they wanted to keep their old role – and most did.
But Mrs Badenoch, who was business and trade secretary, asked to move to the shadow housing, communities and local government brief.
Sources said one of her first targets is Ms Rayner's planned new Race Equality Act, which would enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for black, Asian and other ethnic minority people.
Kemi Badenoch volunteered to shadow Angela Rayner to 'hold her feet to the fire', The Mail on Sunday can reveal
Sources said one of her first targets is Ms Rayner's planned new Race Equality Act, which would enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for black, Asian and other ethnic minority people.
Mrs Badenoch has compared the planned legislation to apartheid in South Africa, saying it would mean 'classifying your workforce by race'.
She told the British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference last month: 'Measuring people based on skin colour is the beginning of a very slippery slope. I don't think we should be doing it.'
An ally of Mrs Badenoch said: 'Kemi cleaned up the problems at business and trade, such as the Post Office and steel industry, and Labour won't do trade deals, so she took communities and local government to hold Angela Rayner's feet to the fire.
'The communities angle means Kemi can also properly scrutinise Labour's Race Equality Act, which she sees as divisive and unnecessary.'
It comes as Tory grandees urged the Conservatives not to rush a leadership challenge and stop their bitter infighting.
Mr Sunak is understood to be desperate to hand over the Tory leadership reins, with insiders saying he wants the 1922 Committee to allow him to step aside once it has set the terms of the contest.
A source close to the former prime minister said he 'will be guided by what's best for the party and for the country. He'll have a conversation with the party board when the timing is settled, but until then not making any decisions either way.'
Some MPs have called for an interim leader to be appointed, with increasing support for Sir Iain Duncan Smith to reprise the role for a year to allow the party to recover.
Writing in today's Mail on Sunday, Sir Iain says now is not the time to focus on leadership battles, explaining: 'We Tories are teetering on the brink of collapsing further if we don't grasp how the party has brought this on itself.
'Divisive and unnecessary': Kemi Badeoch intends to fight Angela Rayner's proposed Race Equality Act, which would enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for black, Asian and other ethnic minority people
'That's why I cannot think of anything worse than rushing into a leadership election.'
Meanwhile, former home secretary James Cleverly has emerged as the early favourite among voters to replace Mr Sunak as Tory leader, according to polling for The Times.
The YouGov survey found little enthusiasm for any of the candidates and none had so-called net positive ratings.
Mr Cleverly, who is increasingly expected to throw his hat into the ring, has urged the party to unite in opposition and not 'descend into bitter infighting and finger pointing'.
