10 most absurd moments from the Conservative Party leadership election

Some of these are beyond belief

Voting has now closed in the Conservative Party leadership election. The results of the contest, which ran for more than three months, will be announced on 2 November.

The campaign has hardly bathed the Conservative Party in glory. Indeed, it’s had its fair share of ridiculous moments. In advance of the results being announced, we run down ten of the most absurd moments in the Conservative Party leadership election.

1. One poll found just 2% of the public think Tory members seem normal

The British public don’t have a huge amount of faith in the electorate who are choosing the next Tory leader. Polling from YouGov found that just 2% of the public think that Tory members ‘seem like normal people’.

Ouch.

2. Another poll gave a damning verdict on the contenders for the leadership

It’s not just the membership of the Tory party that the public has a negative view of. Another poll asked the public to give one word to describe the candidates (there were still four of them at that point in the campaign).

Kemi Badenoch got branded ‘arrogant’, ‘evil’, ‘nasty’, ‘fascist’ and ‘bland’.

Tom Tugendhat was called ‘boring’, ‘weak’ and ‘untrustworthy’.

James Cleverly got dubbed ‘smug’, ‘fascist’ and ‘racist’.

And Robert Jenrick? He got the full blend of all the others – being described as ‘boring’, ‘nasty’, fascist’ and ‘bland’.

Yikes.

3. Robert Jenrick claimed pensioners are waking up with illegal immigrants in their bedrooms

In the final weeks of the leadership campaign, Robert Jenrick was interviewed on LBC. In that interview, he embraced his inner Donald Trump by making a completely laughable claim about immigration.

Jenrick claimed to have ‘met pensioners who had illegal migrants in their bedrooms when they woke up in the morning.’

Yes, really.

4. Robert Jenrick used a Daily Mail column to argue that former British colonies ‘owe a debt of gratitude’

Jenrick again. This time, when writing for the Daily Mail, he said: “Many of our former colonies — amid the complex realities of empire — owe us a debt of gratitude for the inheritance we left them.”

For his remarks, he was variously described as a ‘political illiterate’ and a ‘Tory moron’.

No comment.

5. Kemi Badenoch says statutory maternity pay is ‘excessive’

Jenrick hasn’t been alone for making ludicrous claims on the campaign trail. The front-runner Kemi Badenoch was at it too.

Speaking to Times Radio, Badenoch said: “Maternity pay varies, depending on who you work for – but statutory maternity pay is a function of tax, tax comes from people who are working.

“We’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.”

That’s despite the UK having one of the lowest maternity pay rates in the OECD…

6. The power of Kemi Badenoch’s Saturday job

Kemi Badenoch spoke to the right’s favourite TV station GB News while on the campaign trail. During the interview, she made some pretty strong comments about the transformative power of her job in McDonalds as a teenager.

“I grew up in a middle class family, but I became working class when I was 16, working at McDonald’s,” she said.

Okay then.

7. Jenrick and Badenoch’s dodgy endorsements

While the Tory leadership contenders have mostly been courting endorsements, they’ve also been doling a few out. And they’re not pretty.

Kemi Badenoch told The Spectator that she is a ‘huge fan’ of the owner of X Elon Musk. That’s despite his peddling of conspiracy theories and fake news around UK politics and widespread criticism that dangerous misinformation has been allowed to spread on his platform since he took it over.

She also told the magazine that Musk ‘has been a fantastic thing for freedom of speech’.

Meanwhile, Robert Jenrick weighed in on the US presidential election, saying “If I were an American citizen, I would be voting for Donald Trump.” 

Good grief.

8. Tory MP says the party members have been given ‘s**t choice’ of candidates

On the topic of endorsements, one Tory MP certainly hasn’t given the two leadership contenders theirs. A Tory backbencher told the Guardian: “We have a choice of an ECHR one-trick pony, who believes our special forces murder people, and an anti-woke one-trick pony who picks endless fights. As a choice, it’s s**t.”

With friends like these…

9. James Cleverly accidentally eliminated

It was all going so well for James Cleverly… On October 8, he landed himself in the third penultimate round of the leadership election with the most votes from his fellow MPs. It looked pretty certain he’d find his way through to the final ballot of Tory members the following day.

But it wasn’t to be. On October 9, Cleverly was eliminated from the contest after falling behind both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick. He did so receiving two fewer votes than he had a day earlier.

How did this happen? There’s a lot of speculation that some of his supporters assumed he was safely on the ballot and so voted for either Jenrick or Badenoch in order to give him an easier ride in the final vote of members.

Not the sharpest tools in the shed are they?

10. The only televised debate took place on GB News

Televised debates are now a common feature for elections. That’s the case for both general elections and contests to select party leaders. Not so for this year’s Conservative Party leadership election.

Only one debate took place this time, and it was on GB News. Attempts were made by other outlets to get a debate, but were scuppered.

The Conservative Party tried to get the BBC to charge a £10 entry fee for audience members attending a debate and to make the studio audience comprise only Conservative Party members.

In the end the plans were dropped as Kemi Badenoch refused to participate.

The fact that the only debate took place on the fringe broadcaster GB News may tell you something about the future direction of the party.

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward