Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister's Questions

Because of events, dear boy, people could be forgiven for missing Kemi Badenoch's debut at Prime Minister's Questions. Some of us didn't though and took one foe the team. The questions going into the session were how might she introduce herself to a wider public, and would she set the tone for her leadership of the Conservative Party?

The answer to both questions was yes. To give Badenoch her due, she appeared to genuinely relish the moment - even if her jibes were easily batted away by Keir Starmer, not known for being fleet of foot and given to rhetorical flourishes. Going with yesterday's US presidential results, Badenoch pledged her commitment to "constructive opposition" and then ham-fistedly needled Starmer about David Lammy's recent past disparaging remarks about Donald Trump. "Will he be apologising?" she asked. The Prime Minister replied with mention of the constructive dinner they'd both had with the president (re-)elect and almost chastised her for trying to point score where there is traditionally consensus. Badenoch wasted three of her questions without landing a glove. She then moved on to military spending, and claimed it did not merit a mention in the budget - a demonstrable untruth. And she finished off attacking the changes to farmers' inheritance tax, which does not affect most farmers and is designed to close a tax loophole. One that Jeremy Clarkson proudly announced he was taking advantage of a decade ago, and is upset he can't carry on his fiddle.

In fairness, Badenoch has a tough gig. But this first outing showed zero deviation from the right wing path she took through the leadership race. When Trump's ratings among the British public are on the floor, it seems few would expect anything from Starmer other than a pragmatic approach to the incoming administration. There is nothing to be gained domestically from championing the egregious sucking up approach that Badenoch touted. Her false claims about military spending were a clumsy missive trying to tie Labour - a loyal party of forever wars - to perceptions of weakness, if not outright pacifism. And from her final shot championing the farmers, she committed the Tories to her second policy - reversing Rachel Reeves's measure and granting rich landowners a generous tax cut.

There were no clever politics here or new thinking. Given the choices available to her party, it's beyond any doubt that she thinks going right, peeling off supporters from Reform, and somehow attracting disgruntled punters on Labour's margins is the way back after one term in opposition. It's not totally mad, but nor does it do anything to address the Tories' long term problems of decline and the shrinking base of mass conservatism. If Badenoch has started as she means to go on, chances are Labour have very little to worry about when election time swings around again.

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