Anne Widdecombe accuses Kemi Badenoch of clever tactics in Tory election race | Politics | News

Anne Widdecombe said Kemi Badenoch doesn’t want to discuss Robert Jenrick because she doesn’t want to jeopardize her advantage in the Conservative Party leadership race.

polls voting for a new Tory leader has concluded, with Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick vying to replace Rishi Sunak.

The result will be announced on Saturday after a leadership battle that lasted nearly four months.

Ms Badenoch, 44, was thought to have won the televised showdown with Mr Jenrick. UK News last month.

Ms Widdecombe, writing for the same broadcaster, said on Thursday Ms Badenoch was denying Tory members and the public another face-to-face debate with her opponent.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Reform UK wrote: “Believing she has an advantage, she does not want to jeopardize it by facing an opponent who has come up with a policy of making foreign aid conditional on countries taking back their citizens.” who arrived here illegally. “

She suggested that because the two leadership contenders have spent a relatively short period of time in Parliament, the outcome of the competition “comes down to who can talk better” rather than who is capable of doing the job of leading the Conservative Party.

Ms Widdecombe continued: “Whatever the outcome, the Tories will lead from the right, assuming Jenrick’s move from center to right is genuine. 1997.”

Former immigration minister Mr Jenrick, 42, has put withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights at the center of his campaign.

During the Conservative Party conference he faced sharp criticism from other leadership rivals over his statements about British special forces.

Nicknamed “Robert Generic” when he was first elected to the House of Commons in 2014, he has gradually moved to the right.

Ms Badenoch held a number of ministerial posts under both Liz Truss and Mr Sunak, and was also business secretary before the Tories lost power in July.

She also spoke briefly about women and equality and established herself as an outspoken voice on gender issues, including calling for changes to the Equality Act so that gender is defined only as someone’s biological sex.

A poll of Conservative Party members last week by the ConservativeHome website showed Ms Badenoch in the lead, 55 per cent to 31 per cent.

Donations to Mr Jenrick’s campaign totaled £480,000, while Ms Badenoch received £422,500 during the campaign, according to the latest Register of MPs’ Interests.