Kemi Badenoch

[CassieMaddox]

Looking unlikely to win the Conservative leadership now and has gone very quiet about women's rights/the EA during her campaign.

Current favourite is Cleverly.

I know she had a lot of support on here so just wondering what people thought had gone wrong for her?

I mean, that stuff about maternity pay was batshit. Who thinks that? Bonkers.

Thinks what? Explain.

Thinks what exactly? That it provides a large regulatory burden on business?

Do we want women to carry on having babies or not?

Lots of environmentalists don’t

When it comes down to it there could be said to be two basic ideological strands of thought; one that individuals and families/communities have to take responsibility for their own lives, and that the function of the state is to loosely regulate and moderate affairs; and the other is that the state is there to look after the individual and be a provider for all needs.

Conservatives tend to see business and enterprise as the generator of wealth, progress and opportunity whereas Labour has traditionally looked to the public sector to act as the provider for and the protector of people. But in taking on that role it seeks to enforce public sector values onto private businesses.

If you look at many/most Labour councillors in our towns and cities you'll find that most have come from the public sector - and so have little experience with business or commerce.

I agree Badenoch is ideological. And I also understand that small businesses have different challenges to larger ones. But sickness pay and maternity leave/statutory maternity pay (that is a benefit paid centrally) should not be conflated. The only people having babies are women, and this has to be accommodated in some way by our societal structures that doesn’t impose a personal financial penalty directly on women. At least it does if we want women participating in the economy.
I think Kemi makes the mistake of many ideological Tories which is being unable to imagine not having surplus income that allows you to never depend on wider society at any point in your life. Most people on normal incomes will need the support of wider society at some point, especially if serious illness strikes, or old age comes along.

Yes, i agree......the most vulnerable need to have a safety net.....but others maybe need to look towards a future in which pensions and health services will have to be paid into via some sort of additional contributions insurance scheme.

Labour has already floated the idea that in future even receipt of the state pension may have to be means tested.

but others maybe need to look towards a future in which pensions and health services will have to be paid into via some sort of additional contributions insurance scheme.

It could be called ‘National Insurance’

Cleverly out. Kemi into the last two with the highest number of MP votes.

I see Labour have just announced that NI is to go up.

Maybe it would be better if additional contributions were put into clearly defined pots named 'Health' 'Maternity' and so on.........otherwise NI is just general taxation by another name?

Kemi gets through to the last two in the leadership competition.

Personally think Jenrick is slippery and shape-shifting to suit his personal ambition. At least you know what you are getting with Kemi.

She'll be gone by the next election.👌

I half expect neither to hang on until then. But consider where the voters are they are looking to move over to the Tories - Reform

I don't see her moving to a party with so little power although she certainly aligns with their values. But you're right, neither will be around long enough to get near power.

No. The conservatives are looking to win over Reform voters. Previous Tory voters didn’t vote Labour - Labour got less votes than in either the last two elections. They voted Reform. The new leader of the Conservative Party needs to win those voters back. If she does that she is likely to stay and, at the rate Labour are going, win the next election.

I thought she seemed absolutely appalling from the first time I heard anything she had to say. I'd imagine if others felt similarly that might be when it started to 'go wrong'.
I'd say it went wrong when she decided to go into politics and spout racism and sexism, obviously because she's being controlled by someone else. Why would a sane black woman say/do the things she does?

Then we disagree. She is certainly courting former Tory voters and members who have turned to Reform but given how fickle the Tories are, it's highly unlikely she'll be around in five years.

Are you, have you ever been, or are you likely to ever vote Tory?

I suspect Starmer will be gone too.....an interesting time ahead.

What has her race or her sex got to do with anything? Though of course, should she win she'll be the first black woman to lead a political party in the UK.

She can speak her own mind, and she does.

I don't know about Starmer, currently there isn't anyone likely to replace him. I wish there was.

Five years is a long time in politics. I give him another couple of years.
I think Wes Streeting would do a better job.

@LongtailedTitmouse I didn't think this thread was exclusively aimed solely at Tory voters?
But no, I'd rather chop my own tits off and call myself Timothy than vote for that shower of shite.

I am a first generation immigrant (as in, I was born and raised elsewhere, and moved to the UK as an adult). Kemi was a bit younger than I was when she moved to the UK at 16, but is for all intents and purposes, a first gen immigrant.

I used to think she was a hypocrite for her position on migrants, but she's mainly just a snob. The way she spoke about care workers at the party conference was disgusting.