Conservatives have expressed fears of another leadership contest in 18 months, as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick battle it out for the crown.
Westminster was rocked yesterday when the Shadow Housing Secretary and former Immigration Minister came first and second in the MP vote – with favorite Tiago Cleverly ejected.
A Cleverly campaign adviser blamed an “almighty blunder” for his defeat – complaining that his supporters were trying to be “smart” to influence who else would be in the second round of party member votes.
As a bitter blame game erupted, Conservatives lamented the “fucking mess” and the failure of MPs to give a clear signal to activists, with speculation that the winner might not still be in office by the time of the next election.
Veteran former Conservative MP Paul Goodman pointed out that Boris Johnson – who has explicitly refused to rule out a return to the House of Commons – continued to be a “figure lurking in the shadows”.
The Conservatives have expressed fears of another leadership contest in 18 months as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick fight for the crown
Westminster was rocked yesterday when the shadow housing secretary and former immigration minister came first and second in the MPs' vote – with favorite James Cleverly (pictured) expelled
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Badenoch and Jenrick now have three weeks to present their case to the party faithful, with the winner expected to be announced on November 2.
Conservative chiefs have categorically ruled out bringing forward the date so the new leader can respond to the crucial Budget on October 30.
Jenrick threw down the challenge to his rival to debate him on the airwaves “anytime, anywhere, anywhere”, although so far only one TV showdown has been scheduled on GB News on October 17.
The Newark MP was in serious danger of falling out of the race until last night.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Jenrick admitted he had been ruled out and said his plan for a legally binding cap on tens of thousands of immigrants left reformist leader Nigel Farage “shaken”.
“He knows that I am the candidate who will win back the voters we lost to Reform – something our political recovery depends on,” he said, promising not to “swing to the right or left.”
Meanwhile, Badenoch appealed to Conservative members to “be bold” and support her as she said she could unite the party.
Cleverly admitted he was “extremely disappointed” to be evicted.
Having come first in the vote among his peers on Tuesday, he dropped to third on 37, behind Badenoch on 42 and Robert Jenrick on 41.
There were audible gasps in the parliamentary committee room as the numbers were read out.
Some alleged that Cleverly's allies had “lent” support to Jenrick in an attempt to secure an easier opponent in the party's membership vote.
Others suggested the opposite, that Jenrick had gotten extra support for Cleverly in the previous round and then withdrew it.
Tom Skinner, Cleverly's campaign adviser, told LBC: “To be honest, it's a big fraud. Everyone is shocked.
He added: “One of the problems with politics is that everyone in politics thinks they are very smart. They all think they are smarter than everyone else.
“A lot of people went there trying to vote for the person they thought would knock out the person they didn't like.
'There were so many MPs who were 'anyone but Rob and anyone but Kemi'…what that meant was that en masse…unfortunately, from my point of view, it was done to James.'
Boris Johnson at his book launch in London earlier this week with James Cleverly
Tom Skinner, Cleverly's campaign adviser, told LBC: “To be honest, it's a big fraud. Everyone is shocked.
He was expected to win a majority of moderate votes from supporters of Tom Tugendhat, who was knocked out yesterday.
However, both teams denied ordering supporters to use double-play tactics, and the reaction from many was confusion.
Asked what had happened, a distraught MP who favored Mr Cleverly said: “God knows.” They added: “Tory MPs are very introspective.”
Other Conservatives complained that many MPs 'thought they were in a House of Cards'.
And one miserable MP told The Times: 'The party is fucked. The public will look at us in the next election and think “these people haven’t learned anything.” But we'll probably do it again in 18 months anyway.'
