Jennifer McKiernan
Political reporter
Kemi Badenoch looked like the cat that got the cream as she was announced the winner of the Conservative leadership race, despite a membership vote turnout she’d acknowledged was worryingly low.
That’s what prompted her last-minute round of interviews, having previously taken the opposite tack from rival Robert Jenrick’s approach of as many media opportunities as possible.
Her campaign was light on policies, insisting principles must come first, although she does want to see the UK’s immigration system reformed and has waged a one-woman campaign against “woke culture”.
She appears to have overcome concerns she could be too abrasive, admitting she may need to “calibrate” and soften her approach in a recent BBC interview, and winning a flurry of Tory endorsements in the final weeks.
Badenoch will need to appoint her shadow cabinet in the coming days and has previously said she’d offer a frontbench job to all six of her rivals in the leadership race, including Jenrick.
Belgium
