A senior Tory has shone a light on tensions at the top of the party after he struggled to answer a question on Robert Jenrick’s leadership ambitions.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp was asked whether the shadow justice secretary is a “team player” amid mounting speculation that he wants Kemi Badenoch’s job.
Jenrick – who lost the Tory leadership contest to Badenoch last year – has been criticised by some Conservative MPs for regularly commenting on issues that are outside his brief, such as the future of the Chagos Islands.
Badneoch’s performance in the six months since she became leader has been widely criticised, and the widely-expected losses in Thursday’s local elections are set to ignite further speculation about her future in the job.
On Sky News this morning, Wilfred Frost asked Philp: “As a member of the shadow cabinet, is there frustration towards him – do you think Robert Jenrick is a genuine team player?”
After taking a deep breath, Philp replied: “Er … I’m sure everything he says is motivated by the best of intentions.
“We are a team. We’re working together on the local elections coming up and on building a programme more widely.”
He added: “We need to work together as a team toward a common purpose, which is to build a policy programme, to build a plan, to communicate our principals and values to win back the trust of the electorate and I’m sure that Robert is playing his part in a constructive way as part of that mission.”
Frost remarked: “It was a sort of hesitant response with a wry smile on your face.”
But Philp told him: “I was choosing my words carefully.”
On ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Ed Balls asked Badenoch is she thought Margaret Thatcher “would have put up with a member if her shadow cabinet behaving like Robert Jenrick”.
But the Tory leader said: “Robert is a valued member of my shadow cabinet team who is doing the job I asked him to so.”
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