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Kemi Badenoch is facing an inevitable leadership challenge, Boris Johnson’s former director of communications has warned, amid reports that the Tory party is plotting to oust her.
Guto Harri, who worked for Boris Johnson during his time in No 10, also warned the Conservatives against selecting frontrunner Robert Jenrick as their next leader, dubbing him a “pale imitation” of Reform UK.
It comes after The Independent revealed that Tory MPs are plotting to remove Mrs Badenoch as panic grows over the future of the party following Reform’s success in the local elections and continued disastrous results in the polls.
Meanwhile, The Times reported that Tory association chairmen are considering a confidence motion against the Tory leader, which could mimic the pressure placed on former prime minister Theresa May to quit in 2019.
Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Harri warned: “I think we inevitably are heading for another leadership challenge. And the danger there is that the party makes the wrong decision again and chooses somebody like Robert Jenrick, who's a pale imitation of what Kemi Badenoch is trying to be a pale imitation of, which is, you know, Nigel Farage and reform.
“So if that is the trap that the party is caught in, then it's a real disaster.”
Asked whether Mr Johnson should come back to lead the Conservative Party he said: “The honest answer for me is I think if we had a directly elected presidency, and you could appeal to people over the heads of, you know, the Conservative Party, frankly, then Boris would be plotting a return.
“But that is not how our system works. And the relationship between him and the Conservative Party broke down in a really nasty, severe, I think, irretrievable way.”
It comes after the Tories lost 15 councils and 674 seats at the local elections earlier this month - devastating results which put the future of the party at risk.
At the same time, Nigel Farage declared his party has now taken the place of the Conservatives as the main opposition to Labour as it won 676 seats and overall control of 10 councils.
Meanwhile, this week’s tracker poll conducted by Techne UK for The Independent indicated a collapse in support for the Tories following the local elections.
The Conservative Party, which was on 23 per cent before the May elections, has seen its support drop by six points in a month to 17 per cent, now just one point ahead of the Lib Dems on 16 per cent.
And Nigel Farage’s Reform UK hit 30 per cent for the first time, ahead of Labour on 22 points.
Mr Jenrick, who came second in the summer Tory leadership race behind Mrs Badenoch, is thought to be waiting in the wings to launch another leadership bid should she be challenged.
However, this became less likely in November after Conservative MPs made it harder to get rid of the party’s leader by changing the rules for calling a vote of no confidence.
Under party rules, Tory MPs can call for a confidence vote in the party leader by writing to Bob Blackman, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee.
But after the election of Mrs Badenoch, Mr Blackman said that his committee had earlier in the week increased the minimum number of letters required to trigger a vote, from 15 per cent of the parliamentary party to a third.
That means 41 letters will now be required to trigger a vote, rather than 19.
Mrs Badenoch’s office declined to comment.
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