Kemi Badenoch has played down expectations of a coup after unveiling a new line-up for her Conservative core team.
The Conservative leader said she was “not paying attention” to rumours that some MPs were already plotting to overthrow her, despite less than a year having passed since her election.
According to the New Statesman, scores of Conservative MPs who supported Ms Badenoch at the election have secretly broken away from her and regard her top team of advisers as “frivolous and sycophantic”.
According to the publication, disgruntled Conservatives may try to initiate a vote of confidence in their leader in November, after the end of the grace period that protects her from such actions.
The allegations came a day after Ms Badenoch reshuffled the top ranks of the Conservative government, appointing former minister Sir James Cleverly as her shadow housing minister.
Responding to rumours that Conservative MPs were already plotting a coup, Ms Badenoch told the PA news agency: “I would say if no-one puts their names forward then I don't attach any importance to it.”
“People say this about all leaders, and it's usually the same one or two people who say it.”
Speaking during a visit to a housing estate in north-west London with Mr Cleverly, Ms Badenoch added: “I was elected to get the Conservative Party back on track and that is my focus.”
“We suffered a historic setback last year for a variety of reasons, and one of the reasons is that housing construction did not go as well as it could have.”
The New Statesman reported that Ms Badenoch had condemned her predecessor Rishi Sunak for leaving D-Day events in France early during the 2024 UK election campaign, arguing that the mistake was a key reason for the party's defeat.
The magazine also claimed to have seen a notebook of her notes containing complimentary phrases such as “You are a serious person who does important things” and comments about the Conservative leader being “the standard-bearer of the right”.
Ms Badenoch's team rejects claims she lost any such notebook.
On his first day in office, shadow housing minister Mr Cleverly
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
