Dame Thérèse Coffey is a former Deputy Prime Minister, Environment Secretary, Health Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary. She was MP for Suffolk Central 2010-24
Conservative MPs have given us two strong candidates to choose from as our new leader. It is now down to us party members to decide. I worked with both Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch in government. Robert was certainly a competent minister and someone I like. However, I have chosen Kemi to get my vote, and here’s why.
Kemi is an authentic Conservative.
She works from first principles.
She asks questions, she does not just accept advice at face value, often challenging the status quo, and she engaged with other ministers to understand their perspectives working to a good outcome. That systematic approach to government was no surprise to me, recognising her foundation in business as an engineer.
As a scientist who had a career in business myself, I appreciate the perspective Kemi’s background in engineering and technology brings. It is that same approach of working to a solution with intelligent challenge on the way we get there makes me believe that Kemi will effectively drill down on the causes of our drubbing in July and how we can rewire our approach and party to recover and renew our party’s future.
It gave her a strong appreciation of the challenges facing our farmers, for example – weighed down by bureaucracy and the diktats of quangos like Natural England, they face unnecessary barriers to food production while also trying to help the environment. While I was Secretary of State at Defra and Kemi was at the Department of Business and Trade we worked together to reduce these barriers, and protect the interests of British farmers and consumers. We delivered the UK’s accession to the CPTPP, the world’s largest trading bloc and one that does not require us to undermine the primacy of UK laws, opening up opportunities for our exporters.
While this Labour government is subsidising landowners to build massive solar farms over farmland, and pressing ahead with a complex web of pylons and cables across the countryside, Kemi has rightly called for a proper review of the costs and approach of hitting our Net Zero target. She wants to ensure that we decarbonise in a way that others will imitate rather than ignore, to ensure that the UK doesn’t sacrifice its prosperity and end up colder, poorer, and acting as a warning rather than a case study.
And while Labour is creating ever more advisory councils and quangos Kemi has identified that we need a comprehensive plan to reprogramme the British state and reboot the British economy. That Government should do fewer things but do them with brilliance – so the British people have their freedoms respected and get the public services they need. Having run three departments myself, I agree this is exactly what we need to do.
While Kemi represents a rural constituency today, I first met her when she was in local government, as a London Assembly member. She was unassuming, clear-minded and brave. Back in 2016, she challenged Sadiq Khan on tackling anti-semitism and the flying of terrorist flags in our capital. I know she felt painfully when her local council saw a lot of losses back in 2019 and has helped them on their recovery. She completely gets that we need more Conservative councillors and councils to deliver for local communities, as well as help renew our party to return to national government.
In her actions in government and in her vision for the renewal of our party, Kemi captures Conservative values and applies them in practice. Whether defending the rights of women and girls, or supporting our small business people and entrepreneurs, she understands the challenges facing modern Britain and has taken them on with spirit and attention to detail.
As leader I believe she can inspire our members, and win back the voters who were so disillusioned with us in the summer. She will do this not by promising enticing ideas that people want to hear now, but by renewing our entire platform, to control immigration and restore our economy to growth.
That’s why I’m backing Kemi Badenoch.
