Robert Jenrick has claimed the Tory party will “die” under Kemi Badenoch after she launched an attack on his “integrity” in a bitter war of words.
The two leadership finalists have exchanged increasingly personal barbs just days before the deadline for members to cast their votes on who should replace Rishi Sunak.
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While the contest has been relatively amicable until now, Ms Badenoch this week suggested she was a better fit for the top job as she had never been sacked because of a “whiff of impropriety”.
The comments, made to The Telegraph newspaper, appeared to be a dig at Mr Jenrick’s involvement in a planning dispute when he was housing secretary in 2020 – a position he was later sacked from by Boris Johnson.
Mr Jenrick called the remarks “garbage” and said while the other leadership contenders have worked as a team, “it is a great shame that Kemi has chosen at this last minute to sully that, to trade personal attacks and insults”.
Speaking to GB News’ The Camilla Tominey Show, he added: “If Kemi does this to Conservative colleagues, this will be the death of the Conservative Party.
“I want to end the drama. I want to end these petty disputes, and the misinformation. The public are sick to death of this. This kind of garbage needs to end now.”
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In her comments to The Telegraph, Ms Badenoch had said: “Integrity matters… with me, you’d have a leader where there’s no scandal. I was never sacked for anything, I didn’t have to resign in disgrace or, you know, because there was a whiff of impropriety.”
In 2020, Mr Jenrick faced calls to resign as housing secretary after he fast-tracked planning permission for a £1bn scheme in east London against the recommendation of the planning inspector.
It was hugely controversial as it emerged that two weeks beforehand, the property developer Richard Desmond donated £12,000 to the Conservative party and the pair had also sat next to each other at a fund-raising dinner, at which the business tycoon showed the minister a video of the development on his mobile phone.
The decision was taken a day before new infrastructure charges came into force, saving Mr Desmond £30-£50m extra in tax to the borough of Tower Hamlets.
Mr Jenrick ultimately reversed the ruling following legal action by the council, admitting that what he did was “unlawful by reason of apparent bias”.
Then prime minister Mr Johnson stood by him at the time of the row but sacked him in a reshuffle in 2021.
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Defending himself on GB News, Mr Jenrick said: “I just note that a couple of weeks ago, the Labour-controlled Tower Hamlets council approved the very same scheme all these years later, millions of pounds wasted.
“I will never be ashamed of trying to get homes built in this country, getting young people onto the housing ladder.”
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It was put to him that his camp has been putting out negative briefings against Ms Badenoch, including calling her lazy.
Mr Jenrick insisted he wanted to unite the Conservative Party and said the former business secretary can’t claim to be the unity candidate “and go making ad hominem” attacks on her colleagues.
But Ms Badenoch, who has edged ahead of Mr Jenrick in the polls, doubled down on her remarks during her turn for questioning on GB News.
She said: “I was asked a question by The Telegraph and I answered it.
“The public don’t trust Conservatives anymore. This is not a general election. This is not about policies and what the new manifesto can be. It’s about what kind of person do the party members want? And I am talking about me.”
She described herself as someone who “has conviction” and isn’t saying “anything new now just because it’s a leadership contest”.
“I’m somebody who’s been portraying those values for a very long time. And I also say that given the public don’t trust us, you want somebody who hasn’t been sacked, who hasn’t had any of those sorts of issues. And that is the difference between us.”
The results of the leadership contest will be declared on 2 November.
