Oxford Reacts: Badenoch announces Shadow Cabinet after clinching Conservative leadership
People in Oxford are divided over the news that Kemi Badenoch secured the Tory party leadership. But what do they have to say? And who’s in the new Shadow Cabinet?
Conservative Party members chose Kemi Badenoch over Robert Jenrick to become their new leader. I took to the streets of Oxford to get people’s opinions on the winner and asked what the Conservative’s needed to do to win back the public.
Kemi Badenoch beat her rival Robert Jenrick by over 12,000 votes on Saturday. In doing so, she created history by becoming the first black leader of any major political party in the UK.
Badenoch, who held roles such as Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities in Rishi Sunak’s government, will now be Leader of the Opposition.
After labelling Robert Jenrick “disrespectful” during the campaign itself. In her acceptance speech on Saturday, though, Badenoch paid tribute to her rival. She said that Jenrick had a “key role to play” in the Tory party in the coming years, and also praised his “energy and determination” on the campaign trail.
Yesterday, Kemi Badenoch finalised her new Shadow Cabinet.
Top jobs were awarded to fellow leadership contenders, Mel Stride, who’s now the Shadow Chancellor, and Dame Priti Patel, who got the job of Shadow Foreign Secretary. Meanwhile, Chris Philp is the new Shadow Home Secretary, while Robert Jenrick, her closest rival in the leadership contest, accepted the role of Shadow Justice Secretary.
Although Badenoch will no doubt be revelling in her victory, she cannot escape the current harsh reality that, in July, the Tory party suffered their worst election result in their nearly 200 year history. She now faces the arduous task of trying to turn their fortunes around.
I hit the streets of Oxford to sample the mood of the public, and to see whether people are happy with the latest move by the Tory party.
Ben, 34, from Oxford, said it was “a bit of a shock” that Badenoch managed to beat Jenrick at the polls.
He believes it helps nowadays if politicians are from “a minority or from a working class background,” to deflect away from their “xenophobia and anti-migrant sentiment.”
He continued: “They [the Tories] think they’re playing a blinder [by choosing Kemi Badenoch]. But, to be honest, with the next election being [due] in four or five years, why engage with it?
How can the Tories escape the political wilderness? “Focus on the economy,” Ben says. He does, nevertheless, expect Labour to win “another term,” but thinks we’ll see “more Reform UK MP’s at the next election.”
This is, perhaps, the biggest worry for Badenoch and the Tories moving forward.
Simon, 83, from Eynsham, was, however, far more positive about the news. “I think she’ll do very well,” he said.
When asked what the Tories could do to win back the general public, David, 71, from Kent, who’s holidaying in Oxford, said “I hope there’s nothing they can do.” He continued: “I think they should be chucked in the bin. The same for Labour. [I’ve] got no time for [either of] them.”
His wife, Carole, 80, clearly doesn’t rate Badenoch. She suggested that the Tories already needed to find a new “decent leader.”
Henry, 23, who works in London, but was visiting Oxford, said that he’d prefer “to wait and see” before judging Badenoch as a leader, however.