Kemi Badenoch forced Rishi Sunak's hand... and it reveals a worrying truth for the PM - analysis by Millie Cooke
Tory Minister defends Rishi Sunak's response to Frank Hester comments on Abbott.mp4
Kemi Badenoch has long denied wanting to steal Rishi Sunak's job.
When it was revealed that the Business Secretary is a member of a WhatsApp group called "evil plotters" earlier this year, she dismissed speculation that she was on manoevres as "stirring" - instead, pledging her loyalty to the PM.
But, in the 4,000-word interview, she also refused to rule out another attempt at the top job.
Badenoch is ostensibly loyal to the Prime Minister - but that doesn't mean she isn't biding her time. And her most recent intervention suggests that she is perhaps biding her time more actively than she previously let on.
Kemi Badenoch has long denied wanting to steal Rishi Sunak's job
PA
Yesterday afternoon, as outrage grew over a series of remarks allegedly made by Tory donor Frank Hester, Sunak's official spokesperson repeatedly refused to characterise them as "racist".
Hester is said to have told colleagues that Diane Abbott "should be shot", allegedly adding that looking at her makes you "want to hate all black women".
When asked about it by reporters yesterday, the PM's official spokesperson skirted around it, refusing to characterise them as racist.
But just 15 minutes later, in a brutally timed intervention, Sunak's Business Secretary took to social media to publicly say what the spox wouldn't - that Hester's remarks, as reported, were "racist".
The timing of the intervention was searing. It made Sunak look incompetent and messy - and was only made to look messier when, less than two hours later, he backtracked. His spokesperson broke cover to describe Hester’s alleged remarks about Diane Abbott as “racist and wrong”. The PM doubled down on the comments on PMQs today.
The delay was embarrassing and made the Government look like it couldn't make up its mind.
But worse than that, it looks weak. And leadership that appears messy and weak creates the perfect conditions for challenges.
A cynic would argue that that is exactly what Badenoch was trying to capitalise on.
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She may well have simply been standing up for what she believes in, in a row that many people see to be clear-cut. But the timing of her intervention was particularly brutal for the Prime Minister.
It highlighted a distinct lack of message discipline on an issue in which words matter more than ever. And it also demonstrated that Sunak is open to having his hand forced on the public stage by senior members of his Cabinet.
Badenoch is just one of many figures in Sunak's top team that are likely to be vying for the top job, should a vacancy become available.
While she has repeatedly made it clear that she is not looking to topple him before an election, yesterday's intervention shows that she puts her own beliefs, values and perhaps ambition ahead of her loyalty to the Government.
Given Badenoch's credentials on the right of the party and Sunak's increasingly precarious position in Number 10, this should make the Prime Minister very uncomfortable.