Kemi Badenoch: Conservative plotters are not my friends

Kemi Badenoch says most members of the public aren't interested in 'Westminster Gossip'; Photo: Geoff Overs/BBC/PA

The Tory plotters who want Kemi Badenoch to replace Rishi Sunak as prime minister are “not my friends,” she insists.

Business Secretary says that she «is not my friend.» fully backed» Mr Sunak and advised rebels who wanted to topple him to «stop messing around».

Ms Badenoch is seen as one of the possible favorites to become the next Tory leader, as she has repeatedly There have been cases of Conservative cabinet ministers topping the popularity charts.

But speaking of those who would like her to replace Mr Sunak, she said: “They need to stop messing around and support the leader.”

«Im don't care about me, they don't care about me. I don't care about my family or what this entails, they're just worried.»

Her comments came after Sir Simon Clarke, a former Cabinet Office minister, called on Mr Sunak to resign earlier this week.

The former housing secretary wrote in The Telegraph that since taking power The current Prime Minister's party is moving forward. for pre-election «massacre».

Ms Badenoch said she called Sir Simon after his article was published and asked him «what the hell he was doing».

The Business Secretary told the BBC: “One person wrote an article saying he was unhappy. After that, I called him and asked him what he was doing, because these are exactly the things that we need to stop doing in public.”

She added: “We can discuss in private what is going wrong. And I really think it's good for us to have debates, because not having debates is bad for your health.

“But playing it all out in front of the public promotes the belief that we are more focused on internal issues than external ones. It is not true. We are very focused on the country's priorities.»

Ms Badenoch denied she had any talks with the rebels who wanted to rid the party of Mr Sunak.

When asked Can she confirm that she has not made contact with any of the rebels, she said: «Other than calling Simon (Clarke) and telling him to stop what he's doing? Absolutely.”

Kemi Badenoch is considered one of the possible favorites to become the next Tory leader. Photo: Typhoon Salchi/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

No other MP has publicly called for the Prime Minister to quit, and many have instead spoken out against Sir Simon, including Sir David Davis, the former Brexit minister who previously this week warned against «shallow and divisive self-indulgence.»

Responding to the backlash and explaining why he made the decision, Sir Simon told the BBC on Thursday: «I fully respect the strong views that things like this generate.

'Nobody likes a guy which screams 'iceberg', but I suspect people will be even less happy if we hit an iceberg,” he added, insisting he acted alone.

Ms Badenoch also called his party that it is necessary to stop “treating prime ministers as if they are disposable.”

She told Sky News: «Oh, the polls aren't going so well, so let's ditch someone else and find another person.» ' — this is completely wrong.

“We should not try to remove prime ministers based on popularity battles and website polls.”

The results of a recent YouGov poll showed that voters with more than three-quarters of the seats in Parliament, Sir Keir Starmer would have preferred to become prime minister instead of Sunak, and his popularity fell to a record low last month.

Ms Badenoch, meanwhile, soared to the top position as the most popular cabinet minister among rank-and-file Conservatives in September after Ben Wallace stepped down as defense secretary.

MP Saffron Walden, who is also the defense minister Women's and Equality Affairs, is known for being outspoken on transgender issues, including opposing gender identity.

However, the Business Secretary refused to rule out her own leadership ambitions. in the future, telling the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that «you never know about these things until you're in the moment.»

When asked if she still had a passion for leadership, she replied: “I knew – July 2022.” I stood and lost.

“If you had asked me two years ago, in January 2022, I would have laughed it off and said it was a completely crazy idea. You will never truly know these things until you are in the present moment. I'd like to remind people that after Liz Truss left I stood up and said I wouldn't run again, Rishi is the right person to do the job.»

Mrs Badenoch appears to be also raise hopes that Donald Trump would renew the UK-US trade deal if he is elected.

She said it was “disgraceful” that the US was not signing free trade agreements “with any country,» given that progress had previously been made between the two countries.

But she said the hope is that whoever wins the U.S. election «will be the one who takes another look at the work that's been done and , I hope, will pick up where we left off.”

Joe Biden, the current US president, has shelved plans for a sweeping post-Brexit trade deal with Britain.

In contrast, his rival -Republicans in this year's presidential election have previously expressed interest in a free trade agreement between the UK and the US.