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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think Kemi’s speech showed real leadership potential?

155 replies

Whysnothingsimple · 13/05/2026 15:38

Just listening to her speech. She’s badass, seems to know and understand the mood of the country - she could very well be this country’s saviour from extremism and bankruptcy

OP posts:
Clarabell77 · 13/05/2026 19:30

MiaKulper · 13/05/2026 16:15

I don't like her politics but I think she's a good politician.
She's not a leader though. Her party doesn't like her, the media doesn't like her and the voters don't like her.

People want a Boris or a Nigel or a Tony.

Her party doesn't like her, the media doesn't like her and the voters don't like her.

Yet you think she’s a good politician? In what way?

Jibaka · 13/05/2026 19:39

Kemi is an exceptional speaker IMO. Clever and funny. She is miles better than Starmer, who is very disappointing.

If there were only lab and con in the mix, I think Kemi would have a much higher profile. However, we have loud extremists (reform and green) and they have mopped up a lot of the support that Labour has lost. I’m not sure people have the appetite to re-elect conservatives at this time. And I think that we are probably too racist and sexist to elect a black woman unfortunately.

Ladyymuck · 13/05/2026 19:45

I’ve never voted Tory but do like Kemi. I think she has great leadership qualities and as you say seems to really get the mood of the voters. I was ready to vote Conservative last week but didn’t want to vote for our candidate not that my votes would have made any difference

LemonyCurd · 13/05/2026 19:51

She’s fantastic. Always has been. Glad people are starting to notice.

Naunet · 13/05/2026 19:52

She's the first politician I've liked in a very long time

Lou7171 · 13/05/2026 19:53

Walkyrie · 13/05/2026 19:27

Yes they are. They don’t want the death penalty, they don’t promote willy nilly gun ownership, they don’t want to make being LGBT illegal, in fact didn’t they introduce gay marriage? Their taxes are high. What part of them is very right wing?

I didn't say very right wing. The ideology that underpins conservatism is right wing. Their foundation is firmly on the right.

They favour economic liberalism (privatisation, deregulation), arse lick Trump, and the party's funding and membership base are firmly on the right. The fact they they are high tax but still somehow managed to fuck up public services just means they're massively incompetent.

If anything, the party has become even more unapologetic about conservative principles under Kemi than it was under previous leaders.

ChristmaslightsuptilJanuary · 13/05/2026 19:55

FlyingApple · 13/05/2026 16:32

I really like Kemi, wish she'd join reform.

We all do…

MiaKulper · 13/05/2026 20:21

Clarabell77 · 13/05/2026 19:30

Her party doesn't like her, the media doesn't like her and the voters don't like her.

Yet you think she’s a good politician? In what way?

They don't like her because she is not what they think a Conservative leader should be.

noworklifebalance · 13/05/2026 20:24

MajorLanceYouDontWantMeNoMoreNsoul · 13/05/2026 19:02

Yes they've effed up in certain areas but Labour cannot magic coppers,soldiers ,nurses,military hardware from thin air conservative party cuts to the above and services aren't going to be turned round in two years.

I don’t think anyone was expecting that these things would be fixed in a jiffy but what no-one expected was things to be made a lot worse in other aspects and so quickly with their new policies.

AStonedRose · 13/05/2026 20:26

Look at the polls. Look at the results of the recent local elections. The last Conservative government was the final one ever. Politics have changed, and they're goners.

And I don't like her. She comes across as nasty and carping, and incapable of either passion or nuance. To call her a pound shop Thatcher is an insult to pound shops.

MajorLanceYouDontWantMeNoMoreNsoul · 13/05/2026 20:33

noworklifebalance · 13/05/2026 20:24

I don’t think anyone was expecting that these things would be fixed in a jiffy but what no-one expected was things to be made a lot worse in other aspects and so quickly with their new policies.

But therein lies the problem a lot of people were expecting problems to be sorted in a jiffy.
I'm not saying your good self but there were nutters calling for a GE after six months.
Liebour
Two tier Keir
General Election now
He hates Britain
Trump save us
All widely spouted online.

There a lot of head cases out there.

OneTealShaker · 13/05/2026 20:36

Yeah but she the leader of a fraud party which pretended to be conservative and unleashed 14 years of socialist hell on this country, leaving us with highest ever taxes, public spending and welfare and a crumbling economy.

Just because Labour are many times shitter doesn’t let the Tories off the hook.

So no, she needs to never be anywhere near power.

OneTealShaker · 13/05/2026 20:37

MajorLanceYouDontWantMeNoMoreNsoul · 13/05/2026 20:33

But therein lies the problem a lot of people were expecting problems to be sorted in a jiffy.
I'm not saying your good self but there were nutters calling for a GE after six months.
Liebour
Two tier Keir
General Election now
He hates Britain
Trump save us
All widely spouted online.

There a lot of head cases out there.

Can you not read?

PP clearly said that people didn’t expect quick fixes, they just expected Labour to not break the country even more

OneTealShaker · 13/05/2026 20:39

Clarabell77 · 13/05/2026 19:30

Her party doesn't like her, the media doesn't like her and the voters don't like her.

Yet you think she’s a good politician? In what way?

Not being liked by the Tories means you are doing something right. She’s probably not left wing enough for Tories to like her.

Whammyammy · 13/05/2026 20:39

I like Kemi a lot and she is certainly a breath of fresh air compared to the fool running the country atm or garage or loony bin green guy

MajorLanceYouDontWantMeNoMoreNsoul · 13/05/2026 20:39

OneTealShaker · 13/05/2026 20:37

Can you not read?

PP clearly said that people didn’t expect quick fixes, they just expected Labour to not break the country even more

I can assure you I can read and a lot of people did expect a rapid turn around.
And sod off with the nippy attitude.

Boopybop · 13/05/2026 20:42

I think she is amazing!

MyLimeGuide · 13/05/2026 20:45

MiaKulper · 13/05/2026 16:06

So why did the Tories do so abysmally in last week's elections?

Because they didn't have Kemi as the leader.

MaCheCazzo · 13/05/2026 20:46

TemperanceWest · 13/05/2026 18:10

I thought she was quite funny, but overdid it. She wasn't exactly stateswoman like. More like newbie stand-up routine. And too strident.

Streeting's face though. He looked as though he wanted to do what he once threatened to do to Jan Moir.

"...too strident..."

Would you describe a male politician in that way? Doubt it.

I'm not particularly a fan of hers but I can see what she's doing in that she's saying stuff that might make the Reform loons consider their options. She has to do that - someone has to so good for her for having a go. Labour are currently playing right into their hands and will be entirely to blame if they do get a whiff of power.

MyLimeGuide · 13/05/2026 20:48

Jibaka · 13/05/2026 19:39

Kemi is an exceptional speaker IMO. Clever and funny. She is miles better than Starmer, who is very disappointing.

If there were only lab and con in the mix, I think Kemi would have a much higher profile. However, we have loud extremists (reform and green) and they have mopped up a lot of the support that Labour has lost. I’m not sure people have the appetite to re-elect conservatives at this time. And I think that we are probably too racist and sexist to elect a black woman unfortunately.

Hopefully though, with 3 years to work on it, we can get there? She makes so much sense in everything she says, just what our country needs right now.

Clarabell77 · 13/05/2026 20:55

MiaKulper · 13/05/2026 20:21

They don't like her because she is not what they think a Conservative leader should be.

But in what way is she a good politician?

TemperanceWest · 13/05/2026 20:56

MaCheCazzo · 13/05/2026 20:46

"...too strident..."

Would you describe a male politician in that way? Doubt it.

I'm not particularly a fan of hers but I can see what she's doing in that she's saying stuff that might make the Reform loons consider their options. She has to do that - someone has to so good for her for having a go. Labour are currently playing right into their hands and will be entirely to blame if they do get a whiff of power.

Yes. Being strident isn't an exclusively female preserve, is it?

MiaKulper · 13/05/2026 20:58

MyLimeGuide · 13/05/2026 20:45

Because they didn't have Kemi as the leader.

I believe they did.

PinoirNot · 13/05/2026 21:12

FlyingApple · 13/05/2026 18:33

Because I like reform too.

Oh.

I see.

PomplaMouse · 13/05/2026 21:28

I think has bad instincts.

She initially supported joining the war on Iran and has tried to walk that back, with unconvincing attempts at rewriting her initial position.

She was a leading pro-Brexit voice, which the public now widely recognizes as an obvious mistake.

At a time when most middle-powers are recognizing the error of having become too economically reliant on the US - leaving us vulnerable to being abused by its trade policy - she wants to further place all our eggs in the US basket, increasing our dependency on it.

It was one thing not to see the error in this approach back when the US was the undisputed superpower, that fostered mutually beneficial relationships with its allies, but doubling down when we are in an increasingly multi-polar world, where the US is taking a more extractive approach, strikes me as strategically dismal (and honestly, a pathetic vision for the future of the UK).

On world affairs, I think she would be a huge downgrade from Starmer.

To her credit - she is a good speaker and reasonably charismatic, and isn't anywhere near as likely to catastrophically damage the economy as Farage (and find her to be more sincere and less obviously self-serving than he).