Kemi Badenoch is out of the race to become Conservative leader. It was never likely that she would secure one of the two places in the final round, despite the endorsements of senior Conservatives including Michael Gove. Nevertheless, I rather hoped that she might defy the odds.
I wasn’t alone in that. If Badenoch, 42, the MP for Saffron Walden in Essex, had made it through to face the party members’ vote, she could well have become our next prime minister. Polling of Conservative Party members has revealed strong support for her: before her elimination, unscientific but closely watched surveys by ConservativeHome found Badenoch to be the clear favourite.
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