Badenoch refuses to restore whip to Warsi despite clearing her of wrongdoing over Sunak ‘coconut’ tweet
Exclusive: Tory leader refuses to reinstate UK’s first Muslim cabinet member less than 24 hours after backing Robert Jenrick for railing against ‘alien cultures with medieval attitudes’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kemi Badenoch has refused to restore the whip to Sayeeda Warsi, despite her having been cleared of wrongdoing over a tweet calling Rishi Sunak a “coconut”.
The former party chair, now a peer, resigned the Tory whip in the Lords in September when it emerged she was being investigated over the tweet.
The Independent has now learnt that the disciplinary panel cleared Baroness Warsi of being “divisive” and “bringing the party into disrepute”. But despite this, the Tory chief whip in the Lords, Susan Williams, has written to Lady Warsi, who was the UK’s first Muslim cabinet member, saying that she is not welcome back.
Lady Warsi said she was being targeted for warning of rising levels of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
It comes amid the row over calls for an inquiry into grooming gangs, which has seen the Tories accused of political opportunism.
On Tuesday, Ms Badenoch stood by her shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick as he railed against Muslims and “alien cultures importing medieval attitudes” in relation to the grooming gang scandal. His comments caused outrage and there were calls for him to be sacked.
In a letter from Baroness Williams, seen by The Independent, Lady Warsi was told: “While your membership of the Conservative Party is unaffected, restoring the party whip is a different matter.
“It is a privilege, not a right, and following careful consideration, I cannot be confident that you have any intention of stopping your public denigration of our party and its successive leaders. This behaviour is not acceptable and I will not allow it from Conservative peers.”
It is understood that the Tory leadership objects to comments Lady Warsi has made previously about the party being Islamophobic and “sliding into far-right extremism”.
However, Lady Warsi has insisted she has not asked to have the whip restored, and accused the Tories of “game playing”.
In a statement, Lady Warsi told The Independent that the party was attempting to “demonise” her for challenging its “rising levels of extremism, racism and Islamophobia”.
The move appears to be an attempt to shore up the party on the right, in light of concerns over voters and members alike defecting to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Recent high-profile right-wing defections have included three former MPs, a major donor, and the founder of the Conservative Home website.
Lady Warsi’s appointment as party chair in 2010 by David Cameron was a sign of modernisation in the Conservative Party, but since then she has been pushed back to the fringe as the Tories embraced Brexit and hardline rhetoric on immigration.
The peer had suggested she might vote for Ms Badenoch in last year’s leadership election, before changing her mind.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments