On Friday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch got caught out by BBC’s Chris Mason. He asked if she’d boot Liz Truss from the Conservative Party—much like Keir Starmer ‘ousted’ Jeremy Corbyn. Badenoch looked baffled.
“Is she still in the party? You tell me!” she quipped, flashing a grin that said, I really hadn’t thought that far ahead.
It’s been a dizzying few years for Tory leaders. From May to Johnson to Sunak, and then—blink—and Truss was gone in 49 days. So it’s perhaps forgivable that Badenoch momentarily lost track…
🤔 A mini-Budget she can’t forget
Badenoch swiftly shifted gears to the one thing everyone remembers about Truss: the mini-Budget meltdown.
“It wasn’t the tax cuts, it was £150 billion on energy subsidies,” she said. “People didn’t understand it.”
She added that her focus lies elsewhere: getting the economy back on track, not rehashing past premierships.
🚪 Will Truss face the chop?
Mason pressed on: “Would you remove Truss?” Badenoch politely declined. She stressed that the party needs unity now.
“This isn’t about individuals. It’s about our reputation for economic competence.”
In short: no public firing for Truss (yet).
You can watch it below:
🇬🇧 Tory priorities
With Liz Truss off the nightly news—and hopefully off Badenoch’s mind—she wants to talk policy, not personalities. From NHS fixes to cutting immigration backlogs, Badenoch says those are the real battles ahead.
“We need to focus on how we’re going to get this country back on track.”
And perhaps keep a list of ex-leaders somewhere handy.
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