Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, is a member of a Conservative WhatsApp group called 'Evil Plotters', the Guardian has learned. This comes despite her public calls for party rebels to stop 'stirring' and unite behind Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The revelation follows Badenoch's Sunday broadcast interviews in which she dismissed leadership speculation as 'Westminster tittle-tattle' and said colleagues touting her as an alternative were 'not my friends'. The Guardian reports that Badenoch and levelling up secretary Michael Gove are both in the group, which includes like-minded Tory MPs rallying around her longer-term ambitions.
Tory sources said that while Badenoch is not actively plotting to remove Sunak before the next election, her team is prepared to 'leap into action' if the prime minister is forced out or stands down after an electoral defeat. One insider noted: 'Kemi won’t try to oust Rishi herself, she knows that the hand that wields the knife never wears the crown. But she’s got a campaign ready for when the moment does eventually come.'
A friend of Badenoch suggested she has given allies tacit permission to plan a leadership bid, though she finds overt campaigning 'distasteful'. The business secretary also holds regular lunches with key MP backers, including housing minister Lee Rowley, digital minister Julia Lopez, Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart, and Tory deputy chair Rachel Maclean.
A spokesperson for Badenoch did not deny the WhatsApp group claim but said: 'This is exactly the sort of stirring Kemi was referring to when she told people to stop messing around on Sunday. Having lunch, speaking to MPs, and having a parliamentary special adviser is not a plot, it is the day-to-day job of being a secretary of state.'
