Senior Scottish Tory backs Kemi Badenoch to lead Conservative Party

Ms Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will go head-to-head in the final heat of the contest, afterMr Cleverlywas knocked out in the latest round of voting.

It was a result nobody in Westminster was expecting, not least the Tory MPs in the room, who gasped in shock as the result was announced.

Going into the final eliminator before the contest goes to the Tory membership, the former Home Secretary had been thefavourite, roaring into first place on Tuesday following a strong conference performance.

After the result was announced, Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay said he would not back either candidate but would work with whoever won.

But Murdo Fraser, who finished second in the recent Scottish leadership race and is the party’s spokesman for business and economy, revealed he would be endorsing Ms Badenoch for leader.

He told The Scotsman she has an “interesting backstory” and has been “robust” in the debate on gender identity.

Mr Fraser said:“I wanted to keep my powder dry until I saw who was in the final two.

“I think Kemi brings some important qualities to the role,I think she has a very interesting backstory, coming to the country from Nigeria.

“She has a varied life experience, but I think the most appealing thing about her is, she has some interesting ideas about where the Conservative party needs to be in terms of rethinking how Britain runs.“As opposed to Robert Jenrick, whose campaign seems to be on a traditional right-wing basis, and perhaps seemingly trying to appeal to Reform voters.“The other thing is, I think a pitch that says we should pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights is unwise, and it makes us appear to be extreme.

“I think she can be good for Scotland, and I think she offers something a bit different, and certainly on the gender issue, that is the issue we have put a lot of effort into over the last couple of years, she’s been robust on that issue. I’ve not spoken to any colleagues, but I would expect among MSP colleagues they’d be more likely to lean towards to Kemi”.Scottish Tory MP John Lamont, meanwhile, said he was “delighted” Mr Jenrick was in the final two.

He added: “It is now for the members to decide. But I believe that Rob is best able to unite the party and hold this failing Labour Government to account.”

Wednesday morning briefings focused on a battle between Mr Jenrick and Ms Bedenoch to secure second place, with both camps arguing over who could best be the candidate of the right.

Before the vote, The Scotsman spoke to numerous MPs who while backing one of the other candidates, both expressed their main desire to be “stopping Jenrick”. In the aftermath of the result, it appears this focus may have cost the former favourite.

Ms Badenoch won 42 votes and Mr Jenrick 41 votes, to Mr Cleverly’s37 votes in the latest ballot, with 120 Tory MPs having taken part.

Speaking to Tory MPs in the aftermath, there was an overriding belief Mr Cleverly’s campaign may had indulged in vote lending to stop Mr Jenrick, but got their figures wrong. If just three MPs had switched from Ms Badenoch to him, he would have replaced her in the final two. The result is a particular blow for former Tory minister and MP Grant Shapps, dubbed the “spreadsheet schemer” for his records of concerns duringLiz Truss’s premiership. Mr Cleverly's leadership campaign Chairman appears to have got his figures wrong.

One MP said: “I can’t believe it, none of us saw that coming. It’s definitely from vote lending, they’ve tried to be too clever, it has to be something like that”.

Another Tory just offered complete shock. They said: “I don’t know what happened. None of us know what happened. You can always trust the Tory party to offer entertainment, if nothing else”.

Other Conservatives revealed they were now getting messages from local members saying “what the hell are you doing?” after two candidates from the right got onto the final ballot.

The MP said: “One of two things has happened. Either a number of people lent James Cleverly their votes yesterday and rolled them back.

“Or James Cleverly’s lent votes to Robert Jenrick and over-egged it.”

But there was also the possibility of individuals backing their second favourite candidate, assuming their preferred choice was already safe.

The MP said supporters of both Mr Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch had been asking MPs suspected of backing Mr Cleverly to lend support to one of them to get them on the ballot.

A Tory source said they did not “fall for that” but “it’s possible some people may have been dumb enough”.

Now the party has lost its most moderate candidate, and one that Labour MPs were most worried about. Speaking to Labour MPs in Westminster’s Portcullis House, the mood was one of delight and shock, with one joking Tory MPs had just ensuredSir Keirgot another term.

One Labour MP said: “I’m delighted, it’s the best result for us, and they’ve shown yet again just how out of touch they are with the general public.”

Another, referencing the recent freebies scandal, asked if the Tory leadership result needs to be declared as a gift.

Not all Labour MPs were pleased, however, with another saying they had been pleased, only to remember “just how right wing they both are”.

The latest result has upset many predictions in Westminster and beyond, with Mr Cleverly being seen as the bookmakers’ favourite to win the contest after Tuesday’s round of voting, which saw Tom Tugendhat eliminated.

Allies of Mr Cleverly suggested there was at no point any co-ordinated vote lending from their campaign to other candidates.

Such a move could be used to ensure a more threatening leadership rival were eliminated.

After the vote came in, Mr Cleverly thanked his supporters on X, formerly Twitter.

“I’m grateful for the support I’ve received on this campaign from colleagues, party members and the public,” he said.

Mr Cleverly added: “Sadly it wasn’t to be. We are all Conservatives, and it’s important the Conservative Party unites to take on this catastrophic Labour Government.”

Ms Badenoch has now called for party to “go bold” in bid to unite the party.

She said: “Just because you’re not a first preference doesn’t mean that people don’t want you and I think that that is what has happened throughout the contest.

“You could say that about any candidate. People have relationships, people have friends, they have constituency neighbours, these things feed into the MP stage of the contest.

“What matters now is what our members think.”

A spokesman for Ms Badenoch’s campaign added: “We’re delighted that Kemi has topped the vote. As the members’ choice throughout, she is the best placed to unite the parliamentary party and the Conservative Party membership.

“Kemi is now looking forward to taking her campaign for renewal around the country and making the case for politics with principles.”

Labour meanwhile said the Conservative Party membership now has the “unenviable task of choosing between two of the architects of Tory failure”.

Ellie Reeves, Labour Party chairwoman, added: “Both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are central figures in 14 years of hapless leadership and decline, and have already proven they’ve learned nothing from the mistakes that took the Conservative Party to its worst defeat in modern history.

“While the endless bickering continues, Labour is fixing the foundations and sorting out the mess that these two deeply unimpressive figures left behind.”

Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “As we look at the options on offer in this farcical Tory leadership contest, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that this party is no longer in government.

“Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick have both been competing over their outlandish and offensive views – but the only thing people want to hear is an apology for the damage the last Tory government did to our country.

“This out-of-touch Tory party has nothing to offer Scotland and neither do either of these finalists.

“As the Tories shrink into irrelevance and fight amongst themselves, Labour is at work cleaning up the mess they left behind.”