Kemi can blaze a brighter Tory trail
KEMI Badenoch is a bold, ambitious appointment as new Tory leader.
It was only in 1992 that the party fielded its first black parliamentary candidate, John Taylor, and in 2005 that its first black MP, Adam Afriyie, was elected.
Now the Tories have voted for a first-generation British-Nigerian immigrant as leader.
She is a talented, principled politician and a symbol not just of the new party but of new Britain.
But after a contest which has dragged on way too long, Kemi must now hit the ground running.
She inherits a shattered party, routed in the last election, short of experienced MPs and riven by factional in-fighting yet again.
The Tories need inspiration, unity and a return of its front-foot spirit.
At all costs they must show that under new leadership they are a party capable of government.
Angry voters are reeling from a £40billion tax bomb in Rachel Reeves’ budget. They are furious at what seems to be Sir Keir Starmer’s open-door policy on migrants and massive pay bungs to the unions.
Kemi Badenoch needs to hold the Government to account on every one of these issues and show that she can win back the Tory supporters who defected to Reform.
It is a huge in-tray to grapple with.
But if anyone can, Kemi can.
Rich pickings
IT IS astonishing that the eyewatering sum of £1.7billion was lavished on just one firm last year for working with asylum-seekers.
Clearsprings Ready Homes is raking in a staggering £4.8million a DAY from long-term deals with the Home Office.
Boss Graham King is well on the way to becoming the UK’s first migrant billionaire.
In a week when the country has been taxed to the hilt, farmers are up in arms and pensioners cannot afford to heat their homes, this staggering outlay will stick in the craw of voters.
As we have pointed out, this year alone the quota of illegal migrants will cost the Government £3.2billion to process.
Sir Keir Starmer has called this “a matter of national security”. He is absolutely right.
But the PM needs to make sure his response to the crisis this week produces results.
While the Tories also splurged billions on the crisis, they at least had the Rwanda scheme to halt the crossings.
Since ditching the Rwanda plan, what have we seen from their Labour successors?
So far, precious little.
