Robert Jenrick’s attention-grabbing videos have angered other senior Tories as the party desperately tries to raise the profile of their beleaguered leader, Kemi Badenoch.
The shadow justice secretary hit the headlines last week thanks to a stunt that saw him chase down and challenge fare dodgers on London trains.
The clip, which follows others on a range of issues including bin collections in Birmingham and the government’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, was watched more than 10 million times.
But the move overshadowed Ms Badenoch’s own video meeting grooming gang victims, and is far from the first time Jenrick has garnered publicity apparently at the expense of his party leader.
A recent mishap, where hundreds of Westminster insiders were added to a WhatsApp group publicising his London marathon run, led to Badenoch being asked if Jenrick, who ran against her for the leadership of the party, posed a fresh threat to her.
She laughed it off. But party insiders have told The Independent his interventions are leading to tensions with other members of the shadow cabinet.
It comes as the Tories try to raise the profile of Badenoch, as even some of her closest political allies – including shadow chancellor Mel Stride – admit she needs to improve her performance.
This week’s tracker poll by Techne UK puts the Tories on just 17 per cent (up one per cent) – a full 14 points behind Reform on 31 per cent, with Labour also struggling on 23 per cent. The polling showed that well over a third, 37 per cent, of 2024 general election Tory voters have now deserted them for Reform.
Recent focus groups, held by the pollsters More in Common (MIC), suggest one of the problems is that very few people know who Badenoch is. When groups of former Tory voters are shown clips of the Conservative leader speaking, they like her, but for most of them, it is the first time they have seen her, MIC found.
In a bid to bolster her position, insiders plan to lean into Ms Badenoch’s forthright personality, in what has been dubbed the ‘Let Kemi be Kemi’ strategy – a nod to the famous West Wing ‘Let Bartlet Be Bartlet’ quote.
And, like Jenrick, there is a hope that her clips will go viral. There was surprise when a video of Ms Badenoch telling two incredulous BBC Breakfast hosts that she had not watched the Netflix hit Adolescence took off online. At one point, Badenoch told them she already understood the issues highlighted by the programme, adding “I don’t need to watch Casualty to know about the NHS”.
Her supporters want her to double down on what is seen as her “authenticity”, at a time when voters appear to be turning away from career politicians to support people such as Donald Trump and the Reform leader Nigel Farage.
In the background, there is also frustration about the amount of airtime Badenoch gets on the main broadcasters. The issue is one all opposition leaders struggle with, as the government is inevitably seen as more newsworthy. But it is seen particularly difficult at the moment, at a time of huge international news, with President Trump in the White House, war raging on the edge of Europe in Ukraine and the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
Insiders claim Badenoch is relaxed about Jenrick straying into briefs that are not his own, especially given huge demands on the time of the leader of the opposition. However, sources say there have been tensions with other members of her shadow cabinet.
One senior figure told The Independent: “Some have been very annoyed… That has caused tensions. Kemi has a challenge managing the competition in her team.”
Another insider said: “There’s no discipline. Basically, shadow cabinet members can do what they want with no central grid. It’s causing complete chaos.”
A supporter of Jenrick accused some frontbenchers of being “jealous” that he was able to make headlines.
Earlier this week, even one of her political allies, shadow chancellor Mel Stride compared Badenoch to Margaret Thatcher and said: “She will get better through time. At the media, she will get better … and at the dispatch box.”
The “Iron Lady”, however, could never have predicted a time when the future of the Tory leadership could depend in part on the battle of the viral video clips.
