logo
Debate: should Kemi Badenoch go?

Debate: should Kemi Badenoch go?

Spectator17-05-2025
Kemi Badenoch has come in for criticism since becoming leader of the opposition – for her energy, her performances at PMQs and her inability to galvanise her shadow cabinet. On this podcast, James Heale hosts the trial of Kemi Badenoch and asks whether someone else might be better placed to take the Tories into the next election and – more importantly – who that prince (or princess) across the water could be. The Spectator's assistant content editor William Atkinson makes the case for the prosecution, while Michael Gove sets out why the Tories should stick with Kemi. Lara Brown, our new commissioning editor, acts as the jury.
'If your house is on fire you don't wait a year to call the fire brigade,' says William. But Michael argues that political leaders – much like football managers – should be given time and patience in order to implement their direction, philosophy and, ultimately, to become successful. So should she stay or should she go? … Or should the Tories give it to 'Big Sam' until the end of the season?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Have your say, by emailing us at: podcast@spectator.co.uk
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nearly half of voters fear the Government will not be able to 'smash the gangs' after migrant count hits 50,000
Nearly half of voters fear the Government will not be able to 'smash the gangs' after migrant count hits 50,000

Daily Mail​

time6 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Nearly half of voters fear the Government will not be able to 'smash the gangs' after migrant count hits 50,000

Nearly half of voters think the Government can't control migrants arriving on small boats. While the poll applies to British governments in general, it indicates a lack of faith in Sir Keir Starmer 's 'smash the gangs' policy to control the boats. The survey came as the number of illegal migrants who have crossed the Channel since Labour was elected just over a year ago reached 50,000 – a figure reached more quickly under Sir Keir than previous prime ministers. His first act upon winning the election was to scrap the Rwanda deterrent scheme that the Tories had banked on to get the boat crossings down. The Government's 'returns deal' with France appears to have done little to deter those determined to get to Britain, with more than 2,000 arrivals in the seven days since the 'one in, one out' scheme launched. The YouGov poll, which sampled 8,731 adults, revealed that 48 per cent thought British governments did not have the ability to control the number of arrivals. Just 44 per cent had faith that ministers would be able to restrict the number of small boats, while eight per cent didn't know. Respondents were asked: 'Thinking about the powers and abilities of British governments in general, rather than specific governments, how much do you think a British government has the ability to control the number of migrants coming to the UK on small boats?' Of the five responses – ranging from 'a great deal' to 'none at all' – the most cited category was 'not very much' when it came to controlling numbers. Ministers attempted to dodge the blame after figures confirmed the number of small-boat arrivals had passed 50,000 under Labour even though the milestone – equivalent to one migrant arriving every 11 minutes – was passed seven months earlier than under Sir Keir's Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak. Hundreds more arrived at Dover on Sunday with official figures released on Monday Former Labour home secretary Jacqui Smith blamed the Tories, saying: 'What is happening is the result of the last Government.' She told BBC Breakfast: 'It is an unacceptable number of people. It demonstrates the way over the last six or seven years that the criminal gangs have got an absolute foothold in the tragic trafficking of people across the Channel.' But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp dismissed Baroness Smith's claims, saying Labour had 'surrendered our borders'. Small-boat numbers are soaring, with 27,029 arrivals this year, up by 47 per cent on the same point last year and 67 per cent on 2023. Since the start of the crisis in 2018, 178,167 migrants have reached Britain, with only about four per cent of them removed. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch this week vowed to stop all small-boat migrants. Asked if the Conservatives could reduce the number of crossings from five figures to zero, Mrs Badenoch replied: 'I think that we can.'

Green leadership hopefuls set out fight for frustrated Labour supporters' votes
Green leadership hopefuls set out fight for frustrated Labour supporters' votes

Evening Standard

time6 hours ago

  • Evening Standard

Green leadership hopefuls set out fight for frustrated Labour supporters' votes

The London City Hall member said: 'In the same way that Reform have really made the Tories collapse, I think there's a huge space for the Green left in this country to galvanise and to take votes away, and to say that we don't have to take second-best and actually you can have a party that's unapologetic about its values – that will stand up for migration, that will stand up for the poorest communities, and will take the fight to wealth and power.'

Britain is getting worse and the old politics offers no solutions
Britain is getting worse and the old politics offers no solutions

Telegraph

time10 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Britain is getting worse and the old politics offers no solutions

Is life in Britain getting better or worse? Fraser Nelson has ignited a vigorous debate by positing that 'broadly speaking there has never been a better time to live in the UK'. As evidence, he pointed out that overall crime, according to surveys, is only a third of the level of 25 years ago; that crime had fallen while immigration surged; that air pollution was at historically low levels; and that carbon emissions were falling. His assertion feels implausible. Still, one cannot simply dismiss it with anecdotes, or just claim the data is wrong. Data does matter, and it's not necessarily mistaken to use it to question the popular mood. After all, with Nelson as editor, The Spectator persistently opposed lockdowns on the basis that Covid was neither as dangerous nor as fast-spreading as the government claimed. Hard information proved the policy wrong. So what is it that jars to so many of us – including this writer? Well, first of all, it's that if you are trying to assess the quality of life in Britain you must use all available information and analyse it properly. In fact, overall crime has stopped falling and is ticking up again. Crimes as various as sexual assault and shoplifting, crimes that matter to us day-to-day, are going up significantly. Moreover we are all adjusting our behaviour as shops, streets, and trains feel more threatening, and as the police seem ever less on the side of the law-abiding. The data doesn't catch everything. And crime is only one element of the picture. We've had a serious spike in inflation and we can see prices going up yet again under the very uncertain hand of the Bank of England. Vast numbers of Britons have given up working. And GDP per head has grown barely 6 per cent since its pre-crash peak in 2007 – 0.3 per cent a year. In this steady state economy, the only way you get richer is if someone else gets poorer. Look no further for the source of the social conflict of recent years. So the wider data certainly gives a gloomier picture. But personally I believe something even more important is also going on. People are sensing the country is reaching a tipping point and that the future is going to be different to the past. When this happens, existing data will, self-evidently, tell you nothing reliable about the future. What a growing number of voters now see is that for 20 years we have taken the easy way out. We haven't dealt with our problems and we have carried on living on tick. But now the various bills must be paid and it is not going to be fun. For 20 years we have robbed selected wealthy Peter to pay collective Paul – or rather not pay, because we haven't run a budget surplus in any of those years and now one government pound in every twelve is spent on financing debt. It's not surprising people worry another financial crisis is coming. For 20 years we allowed immigration to increase to its highest ever levels. The consequences are now visible well beyond our major cities and we have nowhere to put illegal migrants except in hotels in hitherto untouched communities. Is it any wonder that people are suddenly agitated about the scale of the problem? For 20 years we told people that wind and sun could power Britain. Now they see fields covered with solar panels, their energy bills going up, and heavy industry leaving the country. Is it surprising that suddenly people think they have been sold a pup and fear the consequences? Even in those fortunate parts of the country that remain relatively untouched by migration or crime, people are beginning to ask themselves 'how long can it last'? No-one seems to think the problems can be fixed. All they hope to do is insulate themselves from them as long as they can. That's why people are right to be unhappy. So why have so many voices embarked on the implausible task of telling people things are not so bad? It's because they have to. After all, if the last twenty years have not been spent on turning Britain into a close approximation of the Elysian fields, but rather on complacently storing up difficulties that are now bursting out, why should anyone have confidence in the political ideas of that period or the parties and politicians in charge during it? The answer is that people won't have such confidence and will turn to others. That's why the establishment are so keen to persuade you that things are not as bad as they seem. 'Trust us, it's not so bad, we'll put things back on track.' Trust me, they won't. The people who got us here, who tried to stop us leaving the EU, who told us we had to rely on immigration, who said we could safely run down our energy systems and outsource the consequences to China: these people won't get us out again. Whatever Britain's future, it can't be like the past. Change is needed and change is surely coming.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store