KEMI Badenoch has blasted Tory plotters for trying to oust Rishi Sunak – but kept her options open on a future leadership push.
The Cabinet Minister demanded rebels “stop messing around” and demanded anyone touting her name as Premier to stop “stirring”.
AlamyKemi Badenoch rushed to defence of Rishi Sunak demanding Tory rebels stop the plots[/caption]
Her hard line approach came as she revealed she gave Sir Simon Clarke a telephone ear-bashing for demanding the Prime Minister be replaced.
The Trade Secretary said: “They need to stop messing around and get behind the leader.
“The fact of the matter is most people in the country are not interested in all of this Westminster tittle-tattle.
“Quite frankly, the people who keep putting my name in there are not my friends. They don’t care about me.
Speaking to Sky News, she said: “They don’t care about my family or what this would entail. They are just stirring.
Badenoch launched her own leadership bid in the summer of 2022 following the departure of Boris Johnson – a contest won by Liz Truss.
She currently tops who should be next Tory leader amongst activists in a survey by Conservative Home. She didn’t deny having aspirations to take the job if a vacancy emerges.
She told the BBC: “If you’d asked me two years ago in January 2022 I would have laughed it off and said it was a completely crazy idea.
“You never really know these things until you’re in the moment. What I would remind people is that after Liz Truss left I stood up and said I’m not running again, Rishi’s the person who should do the job.
“I did so because I worked with him the Treasury, I knew he had a handle on the economy.”
Badenoch revealed she phoned Sir Simon Clarke after he went public claiming the Tories were facing an electoral “massacre” if Mr Sunak stays in position.
During a heated telephone call, she asked him “what on earth he was doing?”. She added: “This is exactly the sort of thing that we have to stop doing in public.
Senior Tories including Priti Patel, Liam Fox and David Davis all defended Mr Sunak rather than find a fourth PM since the 2019 election win.
But Tories remain anxious that Labour are 23 points ahead in the polls with an election expected in the second half of the year.
A major poll commissioned by the Conservative Britain Alliance showed the Tories were heading for a 1997-style election wipe-out.
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