KEMI: MY PARTY IS FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE AND NOT DRAMA QUEENS

Tory leader blasts Reform defectors for having a 'tantrum dressed up as politics'

- BY DAVID WILLIAMSON

KEMI Badenoch has blasted "drama queen" defectors to Reform UK as "not serious people".

The Tory leader suggested those joining Nigel Farage's ranks were motivated by sour grapes.

She said: "I'm sorry you didn't win the leadership contest; I'm sorry you didn't get a job in the Shadow Cabinet; I'm sorry you didn't get into the Lords.

"But you're not offering a plan to fix this country. This is a tantrum dressed up as politics." It followed the departure of Tory MPs including former Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick and ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman to the ranks of Reform.

Likening the defectors to sulky children, Mrs Badenoch said: “When my kids have a tantrum, I don’t give up or change my mind, I send them to their room.”

The Tory leader declared she led a “party of serious people, not drama queens”, as she appealed for fresh candidates to help get Britain back on track.

However, she did not hide her frustration with Mr Farage’s poll-topping party, claiming it got in the way of the Conservatives landing more punches on the flailing Labour government.

She complained “every time we have the government on the ropes” Reform pulls “silly stunts”. She accused Reform of “punching us from behind and letting Labour off the hook”, and claimed it does not “care whether your son or daughter can get a job”.

In her heartfelt speech in London, Mrs Badenoch also fired further warning shots at “former politicians” who want her to soften her policies.

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