Enter Kemi the ‘diva’ (exit Badenoch the Tory leader)

Some call it conspiracy…

There is a school of thought that the Conservative “establishment”, or what’s left of it, has organised the extraordinarily lengthy leadership contest to disadvantage the present frontrunner, Kemi Badenoch, formerly trade secretary and now shadowing Angela Rayner in housing, communities and local government.

A really quick contest would most likely have seen her become leader of the opposition and alternative prime minister by now. A longer one means that she will come under more public scrutiny and more stories will come out about her. So it has proved, with some negative coverage about her time as a minister in recent days. No doubt there will be more of this to come.

It’s a quite a rag bag of accusations: some serious, some trivial and with varying degrees of plausibility. To put it at its simplest, some people think she behaved as a bit of a diva. These unnamed sources have told the press she could be mean and nasty to her civil servants, particularly those working closest to her; she required people doing relatively serious work to run domestic errands for her, including packing for holidays; and that she abused (or tried to abuse) the perks of the job, such as official travel and the ministerial car for personal use.

This sort of stuff is against the ministerial code, but, more to the point, deeply unattractive in a political leader, in so far as many voters are concerned.

It’s only fair to add that while some of the claims are, prima facie, deeply disturbing, they are also denied. Former colleagues say she created a “toxic” and intimidating atmosphere in the department – and, according to reports, at least three officials found her behaviour so traumatising that they felt they had no other choice but to leave. The department has said that no “official” complaints were levelled against Badenoch, which of course leaves open the possibility of less formal activity around the place.

Her version, offered by her spokesperson, is that such accusations are “completely false and a flagrant smear”. They confirmed that the business secretary “had to let go of” some senior officials and suggested she had found examples of “underperformance, complaints and bad behaviour” and that she has “high standards and expectations”.

Does it matter? It’s tempting to dismiss this all, as Badenoch does, as Westminster gossip or even some sort of media conspiracy against this tribune of the right. It is also true that the general public has little time for lazy, so-called “snowflake” civil servants being told to get their arses in gear. Still, from the point of view of the Badenoch campaign – and the Tory electorate of MPs and members – this would be foolish, for some fairly obvious reasons.

First, it suggests the same kind of “one rule for us, another rule for you” attitude that seemed to be so prevalent during the latter years of Conservative rule, epitomised in the Partygate scandal. It did lasting harm at the 2019 general election. So, too, did the closely related feeling that too many ministers were after the perks and enjoyed the trappings of power rather too much, to the point of an ugly sense of self-entitlement.

That, in turn, was linked to the various accusations of rage and/or bullying behaviour made about Dominic Raab, Suella Braverman (who apparently asked civil servants to help her arrange a private speed awareness course after she was caught speeding) and Priti Patel (another leadership contender). This was the internal political culture that, once discovered by the voters, helped send the Tories to their worst debate since the dawn of democratic politics in 1832.

The other problem is that these allegations chime with what can be seen of Badenoch’s public persona. In the Commons and on television she does, consciously or not, come across as deeply patronising, contemptuous of others and insufferably arrogant.

Of course, some said similar things about Margaret Thatcher, and, arguably, it did her no harm and might even have supported her image as a strong, determined leader who knew her mind. On the other hand, she had policies and convictions that were right for her times, and were directly concerned with people’s concerns and the problems facing the nation.

It is far from apparent that Badenoch is in quite the same league as the early Mrs T, before she become PM and acquired the aura of power and statesmanship she later gained. Badenoch doesn’t have any answers to the cost of living crisis, about fixing the public services, ending the migrant crisis and definitely not reversing the continuing damage inflicted by Brexit, a wasting political asset to which she is fanatically attached.

Just as she was in government, she is a personality who looks consumed by culture wars, “wokery”, race and trans rights, none of which will win a general election, still less constitute the programme for the 2030s she promises us. It’s not that she’s not especially likeable, but that she has no redeeming qualities to offset what many people feel is her repellent demeanour.

Even in today’s denuded Tory party, there are better, less risky options available…