The election of Kemi Badenoch as the new leader of the British Conservative Party marks most strikingly a new first – the appointment of a black woman as head of a British political party. It is a positive reflection on that country’s political life that this has happened.
The party political significance of Badenoch’s elevation lies, however, in what it shows about what has become of the Tory Party, specifically its decisive shift to the right.
Badenoch offers what one columnist called a “reheated Thatcherism, updated for the post-Brexit era”, notably a similar but vague vision of a small-state, low-tax, deregulated Britain, at a time when the riven party’s electoral record has tanked and it faces the prospect of a prolonged period in opposition.
The election of Margaret Thatcher marked a profound shift in her party’s power balance and a radical redefinition of its appeal. Thatcher, unlike Conservative leaders before her, was an outsider determined to reshape a party still controlled by grandees who favoured middle-of-the road policies.
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Badenoch, too, is a a culture warrior who rejects identity politics and crusades against “woke” ideology. She has immediately tried to draw a line after a disastrous period for the party by saying its first job was “to win back trust.”
It is all aimed at attracting back the right wing voters who have deserted the party for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and distinguishing it as much as possible from Labour. So soon after a general election, Badenoch will know she has to play the long game, but will lose no opportunity to try to provide an alternative to Labour’s strategy of tax and spend. Her first electoral test will come in next May’s local elections.
However, her prescription is not medicine that will appeal to the centre ground of British politics, now firmly occupied by Labour.
The Tories, desperate for revival, have opted to appeal to the right, rather than the political centre, clutching at a discredited message from the past.