This is bad for Badenoch
Laying the favourite for the Tory leadership is usually a profitable strategy but the reasons why Kemi Badenoch might not win is quite surreal, I suspect she will go postal if she is effectively barred. The Times reports
Kemi Badenoch may be unable to stand in a future Conservative leadership contest because of delays in sending out postal votes in her constituency.
Dozens of councils have implemented emergency measures such as delivering postal votes by hand after complaints that ballot papers have failed to arrive on time and that some people will be left unable to vote.
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have raised concerns about the delays.
Badenoch is standing as the candidate in North West Essex, where more than 2,600 postal ballots were not sent out in time because of a “human error”. The head of the local council said he is “mortified” by the mistake and will consider his position.
If Badenoch wins the seat by a small margin, Labour could be entitled to challenge the result and demand a fresh contest.
In that case, under the rules, a by-election would be ordered. Until it had concluded, Badenoch would not be considered an MP and would be ineligible to stand for the Tory leadership. There is concern among Tories that in such a scenario opposition parties would pile all their national resources into the seat in an attempt to oust her…
…Although she won the seat with a 27,594 majority at the last election, the Tory vote is being squeezed by Labour, Reform and the Liberal Democrats. Her seat is now considered marginal by some polls, and Badenoch is said to have redoubled her campaigning efforts in recent days.
Badenoch said last week: “Several thousand postal ballots have not been sent to people. The deadline for receiving them has now passed.
“That is quite a serious thing. The council has apologised but it could cause a problem with the result if it is within the margin of error.”
TSE