Suella Braverman has set out her vision for a British Conservatism based on patriotism, strong borders and pro-family policies, in a key speech that Tory MPs say marks the start of their party’s next leadership contest.
In a 4,000-word keynote address to the National Conservatism UK conference on Monday the home secretary focused on her personal family history and political philosophy in what many colleagues described as a thinly-veiled leadership bid.
It came after Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, last week sparked speculation about her ambitions after she framed herself as occupying the “pragmatic middle ground” as she took ownership of the government’s decision to scale back its pledge to review or revoke all EU regulations in force in Britain.
While there is little appetite to replace Rishi Sunak before the next general election, which is expected next year, the party’s poor performance at local polls this month has had a crushing effect on the morale of many MPs. Attention is turning to what happens if the party loses power, as a growing number of Conservatives expect.
Some moderate Tories, who argue that parties only win elections from the centre ground in Britain, are looking with interest at Badenoch as a potential centre-right leadership candidate.
Braverman is seen as positioning herself to become the candidate for the rightwing of the party, which favours a tougher stance on immigration and social issues.
“It looks like they are ‘soft positioning’ themselves, in the expectation that Rishi Sunak won’t be around forever,” said one former minister. “I think people want to set out their stalls early, although there’s obviously a long way to go.”
In her speech, which was interrupted by protesters, Braverman set out “what conservatism means to me”, highlighting the importance of opposing “political correctness” and identity politics.
She described how her Asian father came to England from Kenya in 1968 and her Asian mother arrived in Scotland from Mauritius shortly afterwards, emphasising how they “embraced British values” and brought her up to embody the same principles.
But in a warning to cabinet colleagues, she insisted that the government must “must not lose sight of the importance of controlling legal migration” alongside its stated priority of tackling what it calls illegal migration by “stopping the boats”. Official migration statistics coming later this month are expected to reveal record high figures.
A former Cabinet minister said: “Suella is right to say that we have a large problem with illegal migration . . . but this is also an implicit and unspoken criticism of the prime minister as well. It is clear that she has ambitions to do a bigger job than she is currently doing.”
While some MPs questioned whether the home secretary has a significant following in the Commons, others suggested that her hardline stance on migration will appeal to party members, who usually play a key role in selecting leaders. “Suella is speaking the language of constituents and members on the issue of migration”, said one.
But Badenoch is currently the bookmakers’ favourite to take on the mantle of party leadership, having impressed the Tory grassroots when she stood in the first contest last summer.
She also won a striking endorsement last month from Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida widely tipped to battle Donald Trump for the party’s US presidential nominee, over her efforts to stop what he called “the woke” from “corrupting British society”.
She has many admirers because of her stance on cultural policies such as opposing gender-neutral lavatories, although the women and equalities minister herself disdains the label “woke” as trivialising important issues.
Quizzed last week about her future leadership ambitions, Badenoch told TalkTV that she did not want to express interest in case she decided against running.
“What I do is say nothing, because I don’t tell lies and I don’t want to say anything that actually will depend on the state of mind I’m in the future. I am only focused now on business and trade and equalities,” she added.
Her straight-talking manner has won her fans but her directness has vexed others who view it as bordering on brusque. She was rebuked by the Speaker of the Commons last week over the way she spoke to him.
Meanwhile, other Tory MPs have issued a plea for unity in order to give the party the best chance of walking the “narrow path” to victory that Downing Street has identified in the next election.
While one said that “there isn’t a clear direction for where we are going at the moment”, they added: “Any leadership bids at this point don’t make any sense.”
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