With just over a week until the victor of the Tory leadership race is announced, the contest is ramping up and endorsements are rolling in. Now the former Chancellor under David Cameron has offered his thoughts on who the next leader of the Conservative party should be on his Political Currency podcast today.
Announcing his decision to podcast regulars, the ex-Evening Standard editor told listeners that he was throwing his weight behind Kemi Badenoch. ‘I’ve ticked the box, and I’m about to post it after this podcast.’ Going on, the Remainer blasted Robert Jenrick’s policy plan, lamenting:
I started the campaign thinking that Robert Jenrick was going to win. But he underperformed at the conference, and I can’t get round this promise to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. For me, that is a red line. This is just a really impossible thing for Britain to do. A Conservative party that said it was going to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, I could not vote for. It’s breaking the rule of law that we’ve helped establish around the world, it’s something that Conservative governments did so much to establish.
I’m just fed up with the Conservative party wanting to leave things and break up international alliances. I want to hear about the Conservatives building things and forming international alliances. I just can’t get around the Jenrick promise and therefore I’ve come around to saying I will vote for Kemi Badenoch.
How curious. It’s one of the latest high profile endorsements Team Kemi has received in recent days – with Tory grandees including William Hague and Iain Duncan-Smith rowing in behind the leadership hopeful. Not that Jenrick’s camp has been devoid of support this week – with Suella Braverman and Nadine Dorries pledging their support for the wannabe winner. Stay tuned for the emergence of more high profile backers as the contest approaches its final days…
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