Mrs Badenoch calls for general election if Starmer ousted

Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to call a general election if a bloodbath for Labour in Thursday’s local voting triggers a leadership challenge.

Mrs Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, said she believed that if Sir Keir was ousted by his party after the local elections, his replacement would not have a mandate to govern. She said: “I think the public should have their chance to have a say on what it is they want.”

Angela Rayner, the former Labour deputy leader, and Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, are the current front-runners to challenge for the leadership. However, allies of Andy Burnham, who cannot stand because he is not an MP, are campaigning for his return to Westminster.

The Tory leader said the three contenders to replace Sir Keir were “all the same Left-wing nonsense” and that none of them would have a mandate to govern.

Mrs Badenoch said: “It’s just Left-wingery in a different outfit, with red hair, or with a cheesy grin, or just weirdness. But it’s still the same Left-wingery.”

She spoke to The Telegraph on the final day of local election campaigning while she was being driven in a Conservative-branded black cab to her first stop.

She said she hoped to spread the message that her party was the “sensible alternative” to failure from Labour or the populism of Reform UK and the Green Party.

Mrs Badenoch said: “I’m saying right now, there’s only one serious party – that’s the Conservative Party. The Greens are away with the fairies. Goodness knows what the Lib Dems are up to.

“Reform are telling people whatever it is they want to hear, but they don’t know how they’re going to deliver it – that’s what they did last year as well – and Labour are making a mess of everything.”

At last year’s local elections, the Conservatives lost English council seats while serving in opposition for the first time in 50 years.

On Thursday, they could lose even more seats as Reform picks up support in Tory strongholds. If the Tories are forced out in traditional East of England shires, such as Norfolk and Suffolk, Reform claims they would “cease to be a national party”.

These elections seem unlikely to be the moment for Mrs Badenoch to reverse the decline of her party, but she insists it is still possible.

She said: “My mission is to get out there, be straight-talking and let people know that we are the serious party. I’m an engineer. I love fixing things. It’s one of the reasons why I went into politics.

“I like to solve problems, and we are different from all those other people who think this is a game show, and who think that winning the election is the end. Winning an election is just the beginning.”

On Wednesday, in an interview with the Daily T podcast, Mrs Badenoch called for the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador to the UK, saying there was growing evidence that Tehran was linked to recent attacks on British Jewish people.

Her comments came as new counter-terrorism legislation was due to be included in the King’s Speech, treating “malign state actors” such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as equivalent to hostile espionage agencies.

Last week, Hamish Falconer, the minister for the Middle East, summoned Ali Mousavi, the Iranian ambassador, after the embassy appeared to call on expats in the UK to sacrifice their lives “for the homeland” online. After the meeting, the Iranian embassy took down the post.

Mrs Badenoch asked the Daily T: “Why do we have an Iranian embassy that’s putting out messages saying British parents should let their children be martyrs? 

“Look at the terrorist acts that are happening on our soil. MI5 has said that they’re foiling Iranian regime-backed plots.”

Asked whether the Iranian ambassador should be expelled, she told Camilla Tominey and Tim Stanley, the Daily T presenters: “I think that if the security services show this evidence, show exactly, that it is coming from the Iranian regime, or that the embassy has something to do with it, then yes – absolutely.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office called the Iranian embassy’s comments “completely unacceptable” and ordered it to “cease any form of communications that could be interpreted as encouraging violence in the UK or internationally”.

The embassy had been found to be recruiting expats to “surrender to killing” by joining its Sacrifice for the Homeland campaign in its Telegram post. 

The post called on “proud compatriots” living in the UK to “surrender to killing rather than handing over the country to the enemy” and to add “another golden leaf to the book of honours”.

Shared in Farsi on April 15, it was viewed thousands of times and received hundreds of heart reactions, and dozens of thumbs-up and prayer emoji reactions.

The message coincided with the Iran-backed Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (Hayi) claiming responsibility for arson attacks in London, including last month’s firebombing of four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green, although its involvement has not been independently verified.

Counter-terror police have also confirmed that they are investigating whether the regime is using criminal proxies in the UK to carry out attacks for cash.

The new law expected next week would let Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, classify proxy groups as foreign intelligence services and give powers similar to terrorist proscription, making membership, support, or fundraising for such groups a criminal offence.

Labour has faced criticism for not banning the IRGC, arguing that the law does not allow it to do so because the group is part of the Iranian state. 

However, after recent attacks on the Jewish community, Sir Keir said it would be banned in the next parliamentary session, which starts on May 13.

Legislation would also expand police powers under the National Security Act 2023, making it illegal to assist a foreign intelligence service. Those acting on behalf of the IRGC, even unknowingly, could face up to 14 years in prison.

Last week, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Britain’s Chief Rabbi, called on the Government to expel the Iranian ambassador in line with Australia and Lebanon, which have both removed the Islamic Republic’s representatives in their countries over the message.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]