Reform UK has slammed Kemi Badenoch’s first hundred days in the job with a new political prop.
Handed out by staffers to journalists this morning, it’s a thick book with Kemi Badenoch’s photo, with the title: “Highlights from my first 100 days”.
However opening the book up it quickly becomes apparent every page is blank, in a brutal attack that Ms Badenoch has done nothing during her first few weeks in the job.
The front page also includes a faux-sticker review from Reform UK, reading: “Perfect for a long holiday – a real page-turner!”
A Reform source added: “Just like her polling numbers, it makes for great reading. Here’s to the next 100 days!”
Ms Badenoch’s first 100 days as Conservative Party leader has been a mixed bag. While some polls suggest she’s neck-and-neck with Labour, if not slightly ahead, this has largely been due to the collapse in popularity of the government rather than an improved view of the Tories.
She’s also constantly battling for air time and attention against Nigel Farage and Reform UK, a problem no other Conservative leader has had to deal with.
The media especially appear much more interested in Reform UK, the soaring upstarts, rather than the battered a bruised Tory party still struggling to position itself.
She’s also facing a crisis of funding, as she mulls having to move Tory Party headquarters out of its current grand venue on Matthew Parker Street in central Westminster.
Reform UK is courting Tory donors hard, and last month hosted a fundraiser in Mayfair with tickets selling for between £10,000 and £25,000 each.
Writing on the Conservative Home website this morning, Tory Party chairman Nigel Huddleston argued Kemi Badenoch “has a plan and in her first 100 days is already putting it into action”.
He insisted: “We will use our time in opposition wisely.”
It notably did not mention Nigel Farage or Reform UK once.
This morning a Guardian piece on Ms Badenoch’s first 100 days carried a quote from one anonymous Tory MP who argued there is no point trying to rush the Tories back, as the public won’t care about them for at least 18 months after their historic defeat last July.
They added: “From that point of view, Kemi’s caution in not rushing into policies makes sense. No one is listening yet. She has time.”
Unlike other periods for the Tories in opposition, some argue Ms Badenoch does not have the luxury of time given the insurgent Reform UK movement.
Polls consistently show Nigel Farage to be the most popular party leader in Britain, and Reform are frequently ahead of the Tories in election voting polls.
