Kemi Badenoch's 'United Party' Declaration Follows Purge of Moderate Tory MPs
In a bewildering display of political contradiction, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has proclaimed her party's unity moments after effectively declaring roughly half her parliamentary colleagues unwelcome. The spectacle unfolded during a speech that many observers describe as a deliberate act of self-sabotage, accelerating the Tories' relentless march toward the extreme right while hemorrhaging support.
A Calculated Performance of Self-Destruction
Badenoch's address, delivered during a week when Labour leader Keir Starmer was abroad, appeared designed solely for attention. With no immediate political pressure, she chose to outline a vision that rejected one-nation Conservatism entirely. Her message was stark: the party has no future for moderates, and those unwilling to embrace hardline positions on immigration and Brexit should leave.
This stance appears particularly irrational given the Conservatives' polling position. Under Badenoch's leadership, the party has plummeted from support in the high twenties to the mid-teens. Rather than seeking to broaden appeal, she has opted to narrow it dramatically, expelling centrist elements at precisely the moment when electoral recovery demands inclusivity.
The Psychodrama of British Politics
Advance briefing materials for the speech prominently featured the word PSYCHODRAMA in capital letters, a stylistic nod to Donald Trump's media tactics. Badenoch positioned herself as the sole figure offering direction amid chaos, dismissing both Starmer's Labour and Nigel Farage's Reform as distractions. Yet her own actions have intensified the very drama she claims to transcend.
Shadow ministers Chris Philp and Mel Stride were reduced to what she termed useful idiots, mere instruments of her personal agenda. The economy, she quipped, looks like Mel Stride—a remark that drew discomfort even among loyalists, given Stride's struggling reputation as shadow chancellor.
Accelerating Defections and Isolating the Centre-Right
The immediate consequence of Badenoch's purge is a party split into two camps of potential defectors. Approximately half of Tory MPs are already considered likely to join Reform, while the remainder now face temptation from the Liberal Democrats. This exodus threatens to leave the Conservatives as a rump faction, devoid of the broad coalition necessary for electoral success.
Badenoch specifically targeted figures like Andy Street and Ruth Davidson, whose new centre-right movement Prosper UK launched this week. She dismissed them as seditious, insisting that any criticism of Brexit or moderate immigration policy warrants expulsion. Her vision demands absolute ideological purity, rejecting the pragmatic conservatism that once delivered electoral victories.
A Party Transformed Beyond Recognition
The Tory party looks like Mark Francois, Badenoch declared, referencing the hardline MP widely tipped to defect to Reform. This remark underscores her determination to reshape the party in the image of its most extreme elements. There was no repentance for past governance failures, merely a suggestion that the public should show gratitude that Britain was left on life support rather than completely broken.
During a brief question session dominated by right-wing media, Badenoch repeated her mantra of unity. Yet she pointedly refused to fully denounce controversial race views, implying that a bit of racism is now permissible. The event concluded with awkward photo opportunities involving about twenty predominantly male MPs—a group whose future party allegiance remains uncertain.
Broader Implications for Opposition Politics
While Badenoch's performance overshadowed deputy prime minister's questions, that session offered little respite. Labour's David Lammy relied on rehearsed jokes rather than substantive answers, while Tory deputy Andrew Griffith floundered so badly he provided Labour's biggest laugh in weeks. The overall picture is of an opposition in disarray, with Badenoch's leadership accelerating rather than resolving the crisis.
As the Conservatives continue their onwards and downwards trajectory, Badenoch appears committed to a strategy where defeat is victory. Her rejection of the successful 2006 Tory model—which rebuilt reputation and poll leads after a decade in opposition—suggests she values ideological purity over electoral success. The coming months will reveal whether this gamble results in total collapse or an improbable resurgence from the far right.
