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Louise Thomas
Editor
Kemi Badenoch warned the Conservatives are no longer the “natural party of government” and may soon not even be the main opposition party as older Tory voters die off and younger voters look elsewhere.
In a 20,000-word, 40-page essay, Ms Badenoch sets out how the Conservatives’ dire approval ratings among under-35s pose an existential challenge to the party and could see it relegated to the sidelines of British politics.
And in a bid to pitch herself as the woman to revive the Tories’ fortunes, she claims a new and growing so-called “bureaucratic class” is behind “the rise of identity politics” and the UK’s stagnant economic growth.
The Tory leadership contender identified those whose jobs are focused on administering government rules as part of a polarising “new left” intent on “ever-increasing social and economic control”.
And, as she tries to get her faltering bid to succeed Rishi Sunak back on track, her dossier sets out how the party should rail against environmental policies and “identity politics”.
It claims “conservatism is in crisis” because entrepreneurs and private sector businesses are “under siege” from these middle-class bureaucrats.
And, in a rallying cry to Conservatives, Ms Badenoch wrote: “We need to rise to this new challenge.”
She added: “If you tell people they cannot cope with microaggressions, they are unlikely to take risks or become entrepreneurs. If you build a victimhood and complaint culture, then a well-paid job policing this culture becomes the goal for more and more talented people.”
And, pitching herself as the Tory leadership contender who can defeat the “new left”, she said: “We may be outnumbered in Westminster but we are not outgunned. We may be late to the fight, but we will not cease until we have won.”
She warned the Conservatives are reliant on elderly affluent voters who have always voted for the party, but as this group declines in number the party faces an “existential threat”.
Pointing to the Tories coming fifth among voters under 35, it warned: “On these figures, the Conservatives have long since stopped being the natural party of government, but they will soon not even be the natural party of opposition.”
Ms Badenoch published the ‘Conservatism in Crisis’ essay as a damning poll showed Robert Jenrick closing in on her as Tory members’ favourite candidate in the leadership race. She has had a rocky party conference, coming under fire for suggesting maternity pay in the UK is “excessive”.
Six weeks ago, YouGov put Ms Badenoch 15 points ahead of Mr Jenrick, with party members backing the former business secretary by 48 per cent compared to Mr Jenrick’s 33 per cent if the two went head-to-head in the final round.
But the latest polling puts Ms Badenoch just four points ahead of the ex-immigration minister.
Some 52 per cent of people backed Ms Badenoch to Mr Jenrick’s 48 per cent if they were to end up in the final two.
The report came as Ms Badenoch appeared on-stage at the Tory conference, telling gathered activists who will decide the next leader: “As Conservatives we’ve allowed too many people to tell us who we are.
“We’ve allowed too many people to portray us as the bad guys. Labour are in, everybody can see they’re the bad guys. We’re the good guys.”
She criticised the media for cutting her comments about maternity pay “down to a soundbite”, adding Tory members need to decide who will be leader “not the left, not the Guardian, not the BBC, just Conservatives”.
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