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Yesterday, reassurance, if you're a normie, anyway. James Cleverly (I never thought he was all that) seemed to have a clear path to the "final two" in the elimination rounds for the Tory leadership contest.
We were down to three candidates, The leader was James Cleverly! Oh, happy day! The "traditional" candidate. The "continuity" candidate. The Telegraph (with one notable exception) was delighted! Cleverly, outspoken supporter of the recently deposed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. More of the same. Sigh.
Today, Whoops! All I can say is that there must have been some serious "strategic voting" going on in the past couple of rounds.
There are only two candidates left. James Cleverly was eliminated (much to the establishment's surprise) in today's round of voting. And so we have:
Kemi Badenoch (the sudden frontrunner) and Robert Jenrick (the former Secretary and Shadow Secretary for Dis 'n Dat. He's 42 years old. He grew up in my home stomping grounds, and was educated here and there (including some time spent at UPenn). He's married to an Israeli woman nine years older than him, and they have three daughters together. Policy-wise, maybe he's not terrible. And certainly not an inheritor of the "wet" mantle, as Maggie would have put it.
Kemi is rather different. A 44-year old British-Nigerian politician who's married to a Scot, is the mother of two daughters and a son, and who's served in several roles over the past many years. She's forthright and--sometimes--not all that politically correct.
There are some who've framed the Jenrick/Badenoch face-off as "softly softly" (Speak like David Cameron, govern like Maggie Thatcher) versus "wreck/break" (Speak like Maggie Thatcher, govern like Maggie Thatcher.)
Things could be worse, but today--when polls state that Labour is only one point ahead of the Tories in popular opinion, I know where I stand.
I'm on team Kemi.
Does it matter?
Interested to hear your thoughts before the final result is announced on November 2.
Discussion (19)
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I’m in Team Kemi - time to go all in.
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Wreck/break sounds good. It's good to have conservatives who can make the case plainly.
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Go Kami
Honesty is GOOD.
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I like her. "Talking Right and governing Left" was the problem? Step right up, Ms Badenoch.
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Yes, it matters. I don’t follow British politics but I have heard of Kemi. And what I hear, I like.
One rarely sees someone on the Left who can hang with these young conservatives. It is so nice to see.
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