February 6, 2025 - 7:00am
While not the first time Kemi Badenoch has had a poor showing at Prime Minister’s Questions, yesterday’s performance was nothing short of dismal. The Tory leader walked into the weekly showdown with not one, but two open goals before her. She missed them both, despite the useless goalkeeper.
Badenoch could have challenged Keir Starmer on the alleged meeting with his voice coach during lockdown or on the escalating disquiet over the Chagos Islands giveaway. So which did she go for? Neither. Instead, she surprised everyone — especially her nonplussed colleagues — by choosing a third issue: the fate of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields in the North Sea.
Even if the amount of oil and gas we might extract from such locations were of any great significance to the UK’s energy security (and it really isn’t), this wasn’t the week to force the story onto the political agenda — not when there’s a possibility of pressing the Prime Minister on a potential resigning matter or, just when it’s cutting through, twisting the knife on the terrible Chagos deal.
She mentioned these issues in passing, but didn’t stick with them. So when Starmer offered the excuse that the “legal certainty” of our military base on the islands had been thrown “into doubt”, she failed to interrogate his cryptic remarks. What uncertainty? Under which system of law? And on whose legal advice? It all went unchallenged. She didn’t even press Starmer on whether the cost of surrender has doubled to £18 billion — and how his willingness to pay up is remotely reconcilable with the austerity and tax cuts he’s imposing on the British people.
That these questions went unanswered is, of course, the Government’s fault. But the fact that yesterday they weren’t even asked is Badenoch’s.
In itself, one bad PMQs is not enough to bring her down, but when it underlines deeper doubts about her leadership, she needs to act fast. The question of who advises her is the most urgent priority. When William Hague was leading the Conservative Party after a devastating defeat, he had the likes of Danny Finkelstein and George Osborne working with him on every PMQs prep. In 2025, the Tory leader needs colleagues of similar ability, if not quite the same politics.
And that’s not all. At the Shadow Cabinet level, Badenoch has surrounded herself with reminders of Conservative failure in office. For instance, her Shadow Foreign Secretary is Priti Patel, who was Home Secretary when the Boriswave of record immigration was unleashed. The Tories’ current Home Affairs spokesman, Chris Philp, was Chief Secretary to the Treasury during the brief Liz Truss premiership. By failing to break with the past, the Tory leader has left herself in a weak position to attack Labour’s failures on immigration and the economy.
Then there’s her grasp of strategy. The only rational explanation for Badenoch’s line of questions yesterday is that they gave her a chance to rail against “eco zealots”. Presumably, she hopes to win back ex-Tories by bashing the excesses of climate change policy. But how does she intend to outbid Reform UK on this sort of issue? If there’s one bottomless well in this country, it’s Nigel Farage’s pool of populist rhetoric.
Where she can outshine Farage is at the dispatch box. As Leader of the Opposition she has a weekly slot in which to forensically pin down the Prime Minister on the issues he’d least like to talk about. This week she blew a golden opportunity in pursuit of an anti-green obsession. It is symptomatic of an approach that is wrong in principle, and pointless in practice.
Peter Franklin is Associate Editor of UnHerd. He was previously a policy advisor and speechwriter on environmental and social issues.
peterfranklin_
To the author, politics is about attacking the opposition. Perhaps, Kemi thinks it’s about issues?
Thanks for making me laugh! Good point!
So she is useless. Another useless Conservative leader.
It’s actually a good thing. The Conservatives are finished. This will hurry their end.
There is a backstory to all this. The sabotage of the Conservative Party, pieced together by Nadine Dorries, from hundreds of interviews, starting with Ian Duncan Smith, who accuses Cummings and Gove of being two of the main players.
Media silence on that…. I can’t think why that might be…
The knives really are out for Kemi, aren’t they? Actually she did quite well at PMQs, covering all the bases and making Starmer look feeble with his dull, legalistic defences. Any strategy that brings out the whiny glottal tone, making us wonder if we can really stand to listen to it for four years, let alone another nine, is a good one.
It also makes sense to lead with attacks on the government’s energy policy because that is what is going to have the greater negative effect on voters and will probably be the single most salient issue at the next election after Labour’s inevitable failure on immigration. Chagos and the voice coach are chattering class issues.
You assume that anyone is actually watching/listening besides the media types and politics nerds. While I count myself in the latter category, I lost any interest in PMQs some while ago. It’s all performative fakery. The only thing I think it actually affects is media sentiment (and who cares what our unreliable media say any more ?) and party morale.
That aside, you are arguing for strategy in the age of celebrity and X/Twitter where tactics seems like the most we can hope for. While I agree with you rationally, this is not primarily a rational game right now.
I totally agree about the energy policy. The Tories should have staked this position out 4-5 years ago. Though perhaps that was too early to move tactically – losing an election on a sensible energy platform may not have helped the cause.
Maximum force at the weakest point. Labour’s weakest point is the energy policy – even more so than immigration. Everyone knows – even most Labour MPs – that a) it will pauperise millions of people and b) it will not have even the smallest effect on CO2 levels in the atmosphere. If Kemi keeps prodding the wound within two years Labour will be at war with itself over this.
She needs to do damn site more than prod the wound.This shoddy excuse of a Government is a sitting target and keep painting more targets on their own backs every day.How about “Would the Prime Minister like to explain to the millions of pensioners who have their winter fuel allownace abolished why he is now intending handing over £8b to Mauritius”..alternatively “why the Govt is continuing to commit to its “11.6b for international climate finance”.Do some work on fuel bills,analyse the amount of green subsidy costs and ask some specific questions with granular detail-make it personal.Do an analysis of DEI jobscurrent and advertised ) in the NHS,cost it out and ask why it isn’t being spent on cancer care.
All polling suggests that a large majority of people in this country still believe in the climate alarmism – so it’s best to steer clear of explicitly challenging it. Most have no idea what DEI is and care less because it doesn’t affect them directly. Fuel bills do. The next election will be fought on domestic energy costs and immigration.
Starmer also comes across as devious, arrogant and evasive in these exchanges. She might let him off the hook but he never comes across well. Not a bad starting strategy, that.
Starmer at PMQs yesterday said “As the father of …[pause]…(how many have I got?…best not say) …young children…”
It’s hard for Kemi with 400 baying Labour MPs ready to cheer whatever twaddle Starmer comes up with and, frankly, precious little talent on her own benches. Who exactly does Franklin think is available for Kemi to appoint who is a break from the past?
The wheels really will fall off this Government when the first of the inevitable power cuts happens. At that point, it will be very helpful for the Tories to be able to say “We saw this coming, we warned you, you wouldn’t listen”.
“It’s hard for Kemi …”
Diddums!
This piece makes no sense. PMQs are a childish waste of time. Two adult people being rude to each other and the PM never answering the questions.
She would be better off having a word with the speaker and asking him to exercise his chairmanship and to require specific questions get specific answers.
ALL PMQs are dismal!
She’s useless. No surprises there. Yet one more crap Tory leaders in a long line over decades, commencing with John Major (and not a single good one in between)!
They deserve to wither permanently on the political vine!
There is no alternative. Especially not Nigel and the Crazy Gang
Jenrick should have been leader, and might yet be.
You’re a one of the dinosaurs wallowing in the Woke swamp which is being swept away by new winds of change blowing through the global DEI edifice and shattering its rotten foundations. Bye bye!
Barring some unforeseeable events, Labour is there for more than four years. Even if Starmer is toppled, he will be replaced by Rayner – be afraid, be very afraid!
Kemi knows all this; there is no point scoring meaningless victories now, she needs to set up for the election winners and the Tory uniting points. Energy is one of the biggies. If the morons of Toryism shut up and let her do it her way she will be in Downing Street in 5 years.
There is, as a lady said, no alternative.