Badenoch ‘will get better', says Stride as Tories' polling woes continue
Kemi Badenoch 'will get better', one of her senior shadow ministers has said as the Conservative leader continues to languish in the polls.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride insisted Mrs Badenoch is 'the person to lead us' as he answered questions following a speech on Thursday.
He said: 'She will get better through time at the media, she will get better through time at the dispatch box at PMQs.
'Just as Margaret Thatcher when she became leader in 75 was often criticised for everything from her hair to the clothes she wore to the pitch of her voice to heaven knows what else – in the end she got it together and Kemi will do absolutely that.'
Mrs Badenoch has faced a challenging time since taking over the Tory leadership last November.
Her party continues to poll in third place behind Reform UK and Labour, with a YouGov poll published on Wednesday showing the Conservatives on 18%, just one point ahead of the Liberal Democrats.
Mrs Badenoch's own favourability ratings have also fallen since she became party leader, reaching minus 27% according to a More in Common poll carried out last weekend.
Meanwhile, former leadership contender Sir James Cleverly appeared to split from Mrs Badenoch on the environment in a speech on Wednesday evening, urging his party to reject climate change 'luddites' on the right who believe 'the way things are now is just fine'.
The Conservative leader has described herself as a 'net zero sceptic' and launched her party's policy renewal process in March by arguing it is 'impossible' to reach net zero by 2050.
In his remarks on Thursday, Sir Mel said Mrs Badenoch is 'leading a shadow cabinet that is united'.
He added: 'Our party has not been united in that way for a very long time, and she is going to drive through the process – with me and others – so that we come to the right conclusion.'
Sir Mel's remarks followed a speech in which he sought to distance the Conservatives from Lis Truss's mini-budget, saying the party needs to show 'contrition' to restore its economic credibility.
In a furious response, Ms Truss accused Sir Mel of having 'kowtowed to the failed Treasury orthodoxy' and being 'set on undermining my plan for growth'.
Calling for a 'bold rewiring' of the economy, Sir Mel argued both Conservative and Labour governments in recent decades had failed to secure economic growth and improve living standards.
He went on to attack Labour and Reform UK, saying Chancellor Rachel Reeves is 'fiddling the figures' and basing all her spending on borrowing, while claiming Nigel Farage's economic plan 'doubles down on the 'magic money tree' we thought had been banished with Jeremy Corbyn'.
In response, Labour accused Sir Mel of failing to properly apologise for the mini-budget.
A party spokesman said: 'Kemi Badenoch has spent the last six months making billions of pounds of unfunded spending commitments and promoting Liz Truss's disastrous top team.
'The Tories inflicted mortgage misery and sky-high bills on working people. Their weasel words can't change that fact, and their unfunded plans show they will do it all over again. They haven't changed.'
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Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
So much for smashing the gangs! Starmer claims the secret to solving the small-boat crisis is a crackdown on people smugglers, but soft-touch French judges let them walk free from court with merely a slap on the wrist
French judges were last night accused of 'going soft' on criminals orchestrating a wave of small-boat crossings to Britain after a string of convicted people smugglers were allowed to dodge prison. An investigation by The Mail on Sunday can today expose how criminals convicted of involvement in people trafficking have been allowed to walk free with a slap on the wrist by French courts – even when they were caught red-handed. In one of the most shocking cases, a married couple were last week handed suspended sentences and allowed to return home to Germany despite being caught with an inflatable dinghy, 50 life jackets and phones full of the numbers of migrants willing to pay thousands of pounds to make the perilous Channel crossing to England. And in another astonishing verdict, a suspected Iraqi people smuggler allegedly involved in last weekend's record number of small-boat crossings was 'given the benefit of the doubt' and acquitted by a French court, even though police found a 20-seat inflatable boat in the boot of the car he was in. A delighted Ibrahim Hussein, 36, blew kisses at the three judges who cleared him. Details of the extraordinary leniency by judges in northern France come as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch last night demanded the freedom to deny migrants benefits – a move currently restrained by European human rights laws. Writing in today's MoS, Mrs Badenoch said it was 'fundamentally unfair' that after five years migrants can claim the same benefits as UK citizens regardless of whether they have paid taxes. French police officers were last weekend photographed on a beach idly watching as dozens of migrants waded into the Channel and climbed on to a dinghy. Writing in today's MoS, Mrs Badenoch said it was 'fundamentally unfair' that after five years migrants can claim the same benefits as UK citizens regardless of whether they have paid taxes France is reportedly poised to demand millions of pounds in extra cash to help intercept Channel migrants. Ministers are close to agreeing a deal to lift a ban on French police stopping boats in shallow water. But president Emmanuel Macron is expected to demand that the UK stump up even more money to pay for the law enforcement. The UK is already paying Paris £480million over three years to stop the Channel crossings. Now our exclusive investigation of the French courts can reveal: A man from Azerbaijan was convicted of people smuggling after being caught delivering an 18ft inflatable boat and its engine – but walked free from court in Dunkirk with a suspended sentence. A Bosnian who admitted transporting four boats to smugglers escaped with an eight-month suspended sentence. The woman, 19, who lived in Germany, said she had just passed her driving test and 'wanted to get away to France'. A 19-year old from Chad also got a suspended sentence in Boulogne on Wednesday after collecting hundreds of thousands of pounds from UK-bound migrants. Critics last night warned the paltry sentences risked torpedoing Keir Starmer's repeated pledge to 'smash the gangs' in a bid to secure the UK's borders. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'So much for Starmer's vow to smash the gangs. Despite being paid hundreds of millions of pounds, the French are clearly barely lifting a finger to stop this evil trade in illegal immigrants which has led to dozens of deaths. 'The French are taking Starmer and the UK taxpayer for a ride.' And Alp Mehmet, of Migration Watch UK, said French judges had 'gone soft', adding: 'It's a disgrace. These pathetic and weak judgments make it open season for these ruthless criminals.' There were extraordinary scenes in a court in Dunkirk last Monday when Afghans Idris Osman, 37, and his wife Tahmina, 36, walked free after being convicted of involvement in a people smuggling operation. Family members, who had travelled from their home in Germany, cheered after the couple were handed eight-month suspended sentences and banned from France for ten years. Three days earlier, they were arrested after their German-registered Mazda was seen close to a beach at Leffrinckoucke, near Dunkirk. A search revealed an inflatable boat, outboard motor, cans of fuel and 50 life jackets. Brazen Idris Osman attempted to blame his wife, saying: 'She's the one who has the contacts with the man who organised the trip – a Kurd named Djmal. I thought we were going to Belgium for a wedding and that we were transporting a recreational boat.' The couple were paid around £3,600 for the trip, the court heard. 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Al Arrg was convicted of 'aiding the illegal movement of foreigners' and jailed for a year, with the possibility of parole after two months. In another case, a man from Azerbaijan, referred to only by the initials RR, was arrested on May 25 after his car spun out of control during a police chase. Officers found a boat, fuel and 42 life jackets in the car. He was also arrested on May 18 while delivering a boat and its engine to a beach. But at a court in Dunkirk on May 30, judges gave him a one-year suspended sentence. Germany is a key part of the supply chain for boats used by the gangs. Boats from Turkey with Chinese-sourced engines are transported to German warehouses before being covertly moved to the French coast.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
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Italy citizenship referendum polarises country
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This is about changing the perception of them so they are not strangers anymore - but Italian," argues reform would also have practical a non-Italian, Sonny cannot apply for a public sector job, and even struggled to get a driving he was booked for hit reality TV show Fame Island last year, he ended up arriving two weeks late on set in Honduras because he had had so many problems getting the right paperwork. For a long time, Meloni ignored the referendum publicly owned media, run by a close Meloni ally, have also paid scant attention to the is no substantive "No" campaign, making it hard to have a balanced the real reason appears strategic: for a referendum to be valid, more than half of all voters need to turn out."They don't want to raise awareness of the significance of the referendum," Professor Roberto D'Alimonte of Luis University in Rome explains. 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"They don't want black immigration and we know it. I was born here 39 years ago so I know what I say."It is an accusation the prime minister has denied repeatedly. Insaf Dimassi defines herself as "Italian without citizenship"."Italy let me grow up and become the person I am today, so not being seen as a citizen is extremely painful and frustrating," she explains from the northern city of Bologna where she is studying for a father travelled to Italy for work when she was a baby, and she and her mother then joined him. Her parents finally got Italian citizenship 20 days after Insaf turned 18. 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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
More than nine of out ten of the Tory rank-and-file want Kemi Badenoch to purge 'wets' from the party in order to meet the challenge of Nigel Farage and Reform UK
More than nine out of ten Tory supporters want Kemi Badenoch to mount a purge of 'wets' in the Tory party in order to meet the challenge of Nigel Farage, new polling has found. According to a survey by the Popular Conservatism group, known as PopCon, 92 per cent of Conservative members and voters agree that there should be a 'big shake-up' in the party, including 'getting rid of the wets who aren't really Conservative' and 'getting rid of the MPs who are big state, pro-EU and arrogantly elitist'. The poll offers support for Ms Badenoch, with 93 per cent agreeing with her vow to abandon Net Zero targets. A total of 91 per cent want to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), while 89 per cent want to reverse Sir Keir Starmer 's EU deal. Despite the party languishing in the polls, Ms Badenoch receives backing for her approach. However, 42 per cent of her supporters want her to establish a formal relationship with Reform. Separate polling published today by Lord Ashcroft in The Mail on Sunday reveals that voters do not think Sir Keir is sincere when he promises to cut immigration.
