Senior Conservatives have expressed unease over ’s alignment with and Reform UK on the issue of grooming gangs, a topic which has generated significant internal discord.
Critics argue her stance appears more populist than principled, raising concerns about her ability to present a measured, centre-right approach.
One current Conservative MP admitted the party was in a “panic” over surging support for ’s party, while a former cabinet minister took a swipe at the tech billionaire, calling him “a South African emigre” with “more money than sense”.
Meanwhile a Tory peer argued shadow Justice Secretary’s Robert Jenrick’s reference to immigrants with “alien cultures” had gone “beyond” the language that “a centre right party should be using”.
Ms Badenoch has echoed Mr Musk and Mr Farage’s calls for a national inquiry to be held into grooming gangs – dubbed “rape gangs” by both men – who have sexually exploited young girls.
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Elon Musk and Kemi Badenoch (Image: GETTY)
Writing in The Telegraph last week, Mr Jenrick said that the over-representation of men from Pakistani heritage in the gangs was the result of “mass migration… importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess medieval attitudes towards women”.
His rhetoric – and Ms Badenoch’s subsequent response – have left some moderate rattled.
One MP told : “There is a panic about Reform taking ground. Badenoch’s not behaving like a confident grown-up.”
Another added: “There are constitutional duties in being the party of opposition, but I think the focus should be more on demonstrating that we are a stable, sensible alternative to the Government – that we are an establishment party that can be trusted.”
Nigel Farage pictured during PMQs today (Image: GETTY)
A former Tory cabinet minister said: “It’s not so much Farage, it’s who seems to be in the first week of the New Year setting the political agenda in the UK and I think we should all be worried about that.
“This call for a national inquiry – into what, about what? We’ve had inquiries coming out of our bloody ears… this concept that everything has to be a statutory inquiry. Really? Why?”
They explained: “The Telford inquiry [into child sexual exploitation] was a really good example of how to do it. Nobody has criticised the Telford inquiry for being other than independent and robust and having the full support of survivors.
“That’s all been lost in the rush to want to be either ahead of the agenda or to receive some sort of approbation from a South African emigre who’s a naturalised American, who’s got more money than sense and is commenting about things that really he knows nothing about.”
With specific reference to Mr Jenrick, a Tory peer said: “Some of the language goes beyond what a centre right party should be using.”
Nevertheless the peer said it was “absolutely right to draw attention to the issue” of ethnicity in relation to the gangs.
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PM Sir Keir Starmer faces questions from Kemi Badenoch and others today (Image: GETTY)
Ms Badeonoch is undoubtedly aware of the threat posed by Reform, which secured five MPs at the last election and which has been riding high in the polls.
One ally rejected the criticism of her stance, insisting: “I just think it’s what she believes and what is politically convenient (a rare combination).”
MPs will vote on Ms Badenoch’s call for a national inquiry on grooming gangs after she claimed that Sir ‘s refusal to back it would fuel concerns about a “cover-up”.
The Prime Minister hit out at the Tory leader over “lies and misinformation and slinging of mud” which did not help victims of child sexual abuse.
He had urged Mrs Badenoch to drop her call which, if it succeeds, would derail a key piece of child protection legislation.
But Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle confirmed it would be put to a vote on Wednesday evening.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said a further inquiry could delay action on tackling child sexual abuse, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year investigation which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.
In heated Commons exchanges, Sir Keir said: “This morning, I met some of the victims and survivors of this scandal, and they were clear with me that they want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry.”
He said the Conservative leader had “jumped on the bandwagon” about grooming gangs but, while in office as children’s minister and equalities minister, “I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry”.
The Tory leader hit back: “The Prime Minister called for nine inquiries in the last Parliament. Does he not see that by resisting this one, people will start to worry about a cover-up?”
She urged the former director of public prosecutions to “be a leader, not a lawyer”.