Kemi Badenoch ignites bidding war by refusing to endorse rivals

Kemi Badenoch told her supporters to “follow your hearts” as they began to peel off to rival candidates after she was eliminated from the leadership contest.

Badenoch and Michael Gove, her most senior ally, are not expected to endorse any of the three remaining candidates in today’s vote, triggering a bidding war, with Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt vying to pick up Badenoch’s 59 supporters.

Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, who is top of the ballot, is using his “gang of five” former chief whips to woo her supporters. “They [the former whips] are adamant they want as many votes as they can,” a Badenoch backer said. “My phone’s been lighting up like a Christmas tree.”

In her message to supporters, Badenoch made clear that she would not be directing her backers on how to vote. She said: “I am not directing anyone to support any candidate. I don’t have to. I have the smartest people in our party on my side. I know you will follow your heart and do what is best for us all, the party and the country.”

Allies of Truss had feared that Badenoch and Gove were “playing games” and would join Sunak’s camp. Badenoch’s refusal to endorse a candidate and influence her backers, however, suggests she wants people to make up their own minds.

Her supporters are conflicted. Only two have publicly said how they intend to vote — Desmond Swayne, a former environment minister, has said that he will back Sunak, while Leo Docherty, a former defence minister, has said he will back Truss. Ben Bradley, another backer, said he would support Sunak or Truss but not Mordaunt, because her values “aren’t compatible” with his own.

Several of Badenoch’s backers said that they would support Truss because they believe she is the better candidate, even if they do not personally know her.

“I’m really conflicted,” said one. “I’m probably going to vote for Liz because I don’t want Penny. I think her answers [during the leadership contest] have been very, very poor. But I’m not a fan of Liz’s. She’s never spoken to me. I’m just going to have to hold my nose and go with Liz.”

Another said that while they instinctively supported Sunak, they believe Truss would make a more credible candidate for the final two than Mordaunt. “She’s pretty dynamic,” they said. “I was impressed when she came to my constituency. She could be a credible prime minister.” They added that Sunak had been “very active”, comparing the prominence of his team of former chief whips to “one of those old Doctor Who reunions”.

Others, however, were clear that they were backing Sunak. “I was inclined to support Rishi at the beginning,” they said. “But I was so impressed with Kemi when I met her that I decided to back her. I told Rishi he would have my support if Kemi didn’t make it and I’ll be good to my word.”

Both Truss and Mordaunt made personal appeals to Badenoch and her supporters. A spokesman for Truss said: “Kemi Badenoch has run a fantastic campaign and contributed enormously to the battle of ideas throughout this contest.” Mordaunt also emphasised her friendship with Badenoch, despite repeated clashes during the leadership campaign over trans issues.

She said: “I want to pay tribute to my friend Kemi Badenoch who electrified the leadership contest with her fresh thinking and bold policies.

“She and I both know that the old way of government isn’t working as it should. Voters want change and we owe it to them to offer a bold new vision for this country. Kemi’s passion for this showed and I’m glad she put herself forward to be heard.”

While Badenoch and Mordaunt have clashed repeatedly, the trade minister’s backers insist this does not mean most of the former levelling-up minister’s support will go to Truss.

One senior Mordaunt backer said: “Many of [Badenoch’s] supporters aren’t ideological but intake friends [from 2017]. They’ll come to us. The 2017 and 2019 intake want a genuine Brexiteer. They don’t know or like Liz Truss and many are in marginals who want to win and know Liz is Marmite, toxic.”

The Mordaunt campaign is making approaches to Badenoch backers asking about individual MPs’ interests, arguing that they have not been voting in blocs.

A senior campaign source said: “We are trying to engage as many people as possible. There are a number of people saying if their candidate goes out they would like to come and speak to Penny. [MPs] often get pigeonholed but we have a wide range of things that interest us — not least winning our seat.”

Her backers are telling MPs in marginal seats that Mordaunt is more likely than Truss to help them beat Labour.