Kemi Badenoch has played down the prospect of a coup after unveiling her new Conservative frontbencher.
The Conservative leader said she was “not paying any attention” to rumours that some MPs were already plotting to overthrow her, less than a year after she was elected.
The New Statesman reported that many Conservative MPs who backed Ms Badenoch in the leadership election had quietly turned their backs on her and felt her core advice was “not serious or flattering enough”.
The magazine reports that wavering Conservatives may try to force a vote of confidence in their leader in November once the grace period protecting her from such a move ends.
The allegations came a day after Ms Badenoch reshuffled the Tory leadership, appointing former minister Sir James Cleverly as her shadow housing secretary.
Asked about suggestions that Conservative MPs were already plotting a coup, Ms Badenoch told the PA news agency: “I would say that unless someone has put their name forward, I don't pay any attention 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 I am very focused on that.”
“We suffered a historic setback last year for many reasons, not least because housing construction did not go as well as it could have.”
The New Statesman reported that Ms Badenoch had criticised her predecessor Rishi Sunak for leaving D-Day events in France early during the 2024 UK election campaign, arguing that the mistake was a major reason for the party's defeat.
The magazine also reported seeing a notebook in her handwriting, which contained complimentary phrases such as “You are a serious man who is doing great things” and remarks about the Tory leader being “the standard-bearer of the right”.
Ms Badenoch's team denied she had lost any such notebook.
On his first day in office, shadow housing secretary Mr Cleverly
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
