Would it have killed Kemi to throw Tory centrists a bone?
Speaking to CityAM at the start of this week the former John Lewis boss and West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, insisted that the Tories can beat Reform if they embrace the centre-right and resist the urge to fight Nigel Farage on his own turf.
The new vehicle launched to make this case is called Prosper UK, and it’s backed by a lineup of Conservatives who share some common characteristics; they opposed Brexit, never liked Boris Johnson and consider themselves to be sensible, pragmatic centrists.
If the names of Prosper’s supporters read like a list of figures from another age, it’s because that’s exactly what they are; David Gauke, Ken Clarke, Justine Greening, Michael Heseltine, Dominic Grieve, Ruth Davidson and Amber Rudd. Some of these characters were slung out of the Tory party by Boris Johnson while others walked away as “the right” took over their house.
The group made it clear that it wants Kemi Badenoch to win the next election, and that they’re here to help, but is Badenoch receptive? Asked about the new group’s mission yesterday she sounded dismissive, saying “they need to recognise the agenda which I’m setting.” She added, for good measure, “we’re about the future, not the past…it’s not 2016 any more.”
Perhaps diplomacy isn’t her strong point
Would it have killed her to throw Tory centrists a bone? She could have said “my party is at its best when it’s a broad church and I welcome support and ideas from all corners.” But while diplomacy may not be her strong point, but she can read numbers.
As pollster James Johnson points out, at the 2024 general election the Conservatives lost 25 per cent of their vote to Reform UK and they’ve lost another quarter of their support to Farage since then. Among those who voted Tory in 2024, only 2 per cent now say they will vote Lib Dem. In this context, Badenoch is entitled to ask whether getting the centrist band back together will help her.
Anyone who thinks a re-run of Ken Clarke’s greatest hits will revive the Tories is as deluded as those who think they need to outflank Reform from the right. Badenoch’s task is seemingly impossible, but while she may not want to put centrism front and centre, she needn’t give its cheerleaders quite such a cold shoulder.