New Tory leader Badenoch claims Partygate scandal 'overblown'

ITV News’ Political Reporter Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe has the latest on Kemi Badenoch’s first day of leadership

Kemi Badenoch said she will tell “hard truths” to both the country and her party as she began her first full day as Conservative leader, but dismissed the Partygate scandal as “overblown”.

In a speech following her victory against rival Robert Jenrick in the Tory leadership election on Saturday, Badenoch promised to be “honest” about mistakes made by previous Conservative governments.

However, Badenoch suggested Partygate, an incident which saw the former prime minister fined for attending a party in lockdown, was not one of them.

“I thought that it was overblown,” she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

“We should not have created fixed penalty notices, for example. That was us not going with our principles.”

Johnson did not contest the fine but has since claimed he believes he did not do anything wrong.

Adding that the public was “not wrong to be upset about Partygate”, Badenoch said: “The problem was that we should not have criminalised every day activities the way that we did.

“People going out for walks, all of them having fixed penalty notices, that was what ended up creating a trap for Boris Johnson.”

Reacting to Badenoch’s Ellie Reeves, Chair of the Labour Party, said Badenoch’s comments prove the Tories have not “listened or learnt”.

She said: “Listening to Kemi Badenoch dismiss Partygate as “overblown” will add insult to injury for families across Britain who followed the rules, missing loved one’s deaths and family funerals, whilst her colleagues partied in Downing Street.”

Badenoch defeated rival Robert Jenrick in the final round of voting by 53,806 votes to 41,388. The result has seen her become the first black leader of a major Westminster political party.

In another criticism of previous Tory policy, Badenoch went on to tell Laura Kuenssberg that the previous government had raised taxes and borrowing too much.

“I think the tax burden was too high under the Conservatives,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean that we have to cut public services, it means that we have to look at how we are delivering public services, and a lot of what government does is not even public services.”

She also argued the Conservatives’ failure to deliver on promises relating to net zero and Brexit failed to build trust.

Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce her shadow cabinet within days, as she begins her term as leader of the opposition.

During the campaign, she suggested she would be open to offering roles to all five of her leadership rivals, although former home secretary James Cleverly has already announced his intention to return to the backbenches.

Other senior Tories to return to the backbenches include Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor, and Badenoch’s predecessor as leader, Rishi Sunak.

But Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel appear to still be open to offers of frontbench jobs.