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Robert Jenrick has kicked off the final stage of the Tory leadership contest with a series of thinly-veiled attacks on his rival Kemi Badenoch.
The former immigration minister painted himself as the serious contender to succeed Rishi Sunak, in stark contrast with fellow right-winger Ms Badenoch who he suggested would oversee “needless drama”.
Setting out his stall with a hardline pitch on legal and illegal migration, Mr Jenrick said the Conservatives need to “get serious” after the party’s worst general election defeat in history.
And, taking aim at Ms Badenoch, he said: “The public need to see that we are laser focused on what they really care about, not getting drawn down rabbit holes.”
“The Conservative Party is the oldest, most successful political party in the world. We exist to serve our country in government, not to do battle on Twitter.”
Mr Jenrick added: “I’ll turn the page, and together, we will turn our faces to the future. That’s how we regain the public’s trust… a serious plan, not needless drama.”
The jibes appeared to be directed at Ms Badenoch, who was notoriously embroiled in a spat on X, formerly Twitter, with Doctor Who actor David Tennant before the general election.
Ms Badenoch also had a row with former home secretary Suella Braverman on the platform in July and during the pandemic publicly accused a journalist of “creepy and bizarre” behaviour for asking questions about her role in the government’s vaccine programme.
But, challenged by The Independent over whether his remarks were aimed at Ms Badenoch, Mr Jenrick said the party has been “characterised by disunity, petty squabbling and differences that need to end”.
“That is what the public are expecting of us right now, so if I am lucky enough to lead the party, that is what I will do – I want to heal the party,” he added.
It came after Conservative MPs stunned Westminster by pivoting to the right and ditching centrist candidate James Cleverly in the race to take over as Tory leader.
In the first intervention of the final stage of the leadership race, Mr Jenrick addressed activists and MPs at the Policy Exchange think tank.
In the immigration-heavy speech, Mr Jenrick said the Tories will not survive if they do not “get serious” about migration.
He added: “At this leadership election we have a profound choice, a clear choice: where do we stand on migration?
“I say leave the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights), cap migration in the tens of thousands and regain the trust of the British public.”
Mr Jenrick said this was the plan “we need”, adding: “If we don’t get serious about migration our party won’t survive. It is as simple as that, so let’s get serious now.”
He is hoping to draw a dividing line with Ms Badenoch, who has not promised to leave the ECHR if elected, saying only that she would be willing to do so if necessary.
Mr Jenrick also said the Conservatives would stand for a “complete break from Labour’s failing agenda” under his leadership.
He added: “The real choice this country faces is between Labour’s failing agenda and the new approach I want us to take, the new approach we need as a country.
“Because if I am chosen as the next leader of this party we will stand to offer a complete break with Labour’s failing agenda.”
Mr Jenrick pivoted to immigration, claiming Labour did not “really care about fixing this”.
And, setting out plans to take the fight to Sir Keir Starmer immediately if he wins, he said he wanted the end of the contest brought forward so he can be in place to respond to Labour’s budget on 30 October.
The contest will not be over until 2 November, meaning one of Mr Sunak’s last acts as leader of the opposition will be to present the Tory response to Ms Reeves’ fiscal plans.
He added: “I want to be the leader of the opposition who stood up in the House of Commons giving the response to Rachel Reeves at the end of the month. That is what we need now.
“The country needs this failing Labor government to be held to account robustly.”
