Majority of Hackney’s Conservative councillors backing Kemi Badenoch’s leadership bid

‘Kemi-fevered’: Conservative councillor Simche Steinberger. Photograph: Julia Gregory

As the Tory leadership race enters its final week, Hackney’s Conservative councillors overwhelmingly support Kemi Badenoch to head the party at Westminster.

Cllr Simche Steinberger, deputy leader and chief whip for Hackney’s Conservative members, told the Citizen that five out of six Tory councillors had declared for Badenoch.

Though he initially supported James Cleverly, who was shockingly knocked out of the running in the last round of voting, Steinberger said he was now “a proud Kemi voter”, and was vocal about his distrust for Robert Jenrick, who has been described as the hard-right candidate.

“He voted remain, and all of a sudden he wants to do this Europe thing, banning everybody from coming in.

“I believe that his policy is not even thought through properly, and don’t even think that when in government he can do what he says.”

“I call him Liz Jenrick,” he said, alluding to the political journey of former Tory leader Liz Truss.

“She was a Liberal Democrat, and then she was a Conservative. She was a ‘Remainer’, then she became a ‘Leaver’. This was all just to win the leadership.”

Truss, who served as Prime Minister for a mere 45 days, oversaw a premiership riddled with political and economic turmoil.

Cllr Steinberger said: “I don’t think really she changed anything, and that’s why she didn’t know what she was doing. I have this exact feeling with Robert Jenrick—it’s all very nice, promising stuff, but I don’t think he’s going to deliver anything.”

Badenoch, he argues, is much better placed to unite the party, which was reduced to a rump of 121 seats in Westminster at July’s general election, in which Labour won a landslide majority.

“Under Kemi, it’s going to be back to a working team together, unless we have another situation where we have a ‘Team Jenrick’ trying to break everything behind the scenes to get another chance for the leadership, as Boris Johnson did to Theresa May.”

Cllr Steinberger is joined in his support for Badenoch by local party leader Cllr Michael Levy (Springfield), Ian Sharer (Cazenove), Benzion Papier and Hershy Lisser (Stamford Hill West).

The borough’s sixth Tory councillor, Shaul Krautwirt (Springfield), was asked who he is backing, but at the time of writing had not replied.

To challenge Labour, Jenrick has proposed an immigration cap, opposing the governing party’s “mad plans” on net-zero emissions, shrinking the state, more housebuilding and “defending” British culture.

At this month’s party conference, the former Home Office minister told activists the party must advocate to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), or else it will “die”, arguing that the international agreement stops the UK from properly controlling its borders.

Badenoch has argued the Tories need to return to their core values to win again.

While she has said she would be willing to exit the ECHR if necessary, she would first try to reform the state and the immigration system.

The former business secretary has not announced concrete pledges to the same degree as her opponent, but she is known for her ‘no-nonsense’ approach and ‘anti-woke’ positions.

In June, she was embroiled in a public spat with David Tennant—famed for the lead role on TV’s Doctor Who—over transgender rights.

During the leadership campaign, she claimed maternity pay in the UK had “gone too far”, though later said her position was misrepresented from a more general comment about the wider need to cut business regulations.

On this stance, Cllr Steinberger said: “There’s always going to be one or two things which a politician says which we’re not going to like.”

But he said in general he supported Badenoch’s policies, particularly her recent pledge to restore tax breaks for private schools if she became Prime Minister.

“I also feel very safe with [Kemi] because the people she’s surrounding with are safe people. I can’t say the same about Jenrick, who is surrounding himself with noisy people and not choosing the right people for the right jobs.”

Steinberger raised Jenrick’s promise to make Jacob Rees-Mogg party chairman if he wins.

“I’ve got nothing against [Rees-Mogg], I’m not necessarily right or left to the party. But he had a seat to win in the general election. He lost it.

“Why should he be chairman now? What is so good about him or what he has done that he should be the chairman?

“Every move the Jenrick campaign makes just makes me more Kemi—I’ve become Kemi-fevered,” he added.

Hackney’s Labour-run council was contacted for comment on the two candidates to be the next leader of the opposition, but did not respond.

Liam Davis, the freshly-elected Green councillor for Stoke Newington, said the country needed a “genuine alternative” and “not someone more concerned with waging a culture war against Doctor Who than tackling the real crises facing our communities: skyrocketing rents, starved public services and climate inaction”.

Conservative party members have until Thursday 31 October to vote for their new leader.

The result will be announced on 2 November.