Kemi Badenoch is kind, thoughtful and has the charisma we need to win again

I want someone who speaks with conviction, is not afraid to stand up for our wonderful country and is, fundamentally, an authentic Conservative.

By Former mayoral candidate Susan Hall - London Assembly Member

14:24, Tue, Oct 22, 2024 | UPDATED: 14:26, Tue, Oct 22, 2024

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Standing to be Mayor of London earlier this year was one of the proudest moments of my life, but it was hard. Sometimes gruelling and at times a lonely thing to do.

But one of the things that kept me going was Kemi regularly calling to see how I was, coming out to campaign, and constantly offering to help me in any way she could.

She could not have been kinder or more thoughtful at a time I needed it most.

This wasn’t just any friend; this was a full-time Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Minister for Women and Equalities, an MP and a brilliant mum to three delightful children. Her support and loyalty meant, and still means, so much to me.

The Conservative Party desperately needs a strong, outspoken and fearless leader if it is to have any hope of recapturing many of the voters that we lost at the last general election and if it wants to win again in the capital.

Throughout the contest, we have heard from an array of leadership candidates, each interesting in their own ways.

For me, a blue-collar conservative, I want someone who speaks with conviction, is not afraid to stand up for our wonderful country and is, fundamentally, an authentic Conservative that holds true to our Conservative values.

For too long we have cowered to political correctness and held back on challenging leftist orthodoxy, too afraid to speak out. It’s time for a change and renewal and it’s time for Kemi Badenoch.

Whether it was battling the prevailing narrative on the danger of child gender services or fighting the fight on women’s only spaces, Kemi is a conviction politician that isn’t prepared to be pushed around.

As Labour loving actor David Tennant recently found out when he told her to “shut up” for boldly standing up on these issues, Kemi will not be silenced.

It also helps that she knows what a woman is, unlike our failing Prime Minister.

While we have a disastrous Labour Government already on the ropes, following a spectacular fall from grace, leading the opposition is a complex and difficult position to hold.

We need someone who will both stand up for common sense values and has charisma, stamina and conviction. I have seen each of these qualities in Kemi, up close.

It is easy parroting lines and telling people what they want to hear right now, in the moment. But to get our party back on fighting form we need to get under the bonnet and conduct a proper MOT.

We need to get the machine apparatus up and running - we can’t simply pick up from where we left off thinking the public will buy into it. We would fall apart in no time.

As someone that started out working life in a car mechanic’s workshop, it is perhaps not surprising that I have been drawn to the ideas of an engineer.

Kemi’s promise of party renewal has resonated with me; we must rebuild from the ground up, regain trust, and offer a vision of conservatism that improves lives, and we need to get CCHQ violently focused on campaigning again.

It is then we can take back London, ridding our capital of Sadiq Khan and his cronies, defeating Reform, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - not with a complex, multi-faceted plan but with a single Conservative vision.

Because as I know from personal experience, it isn’t just Kemi’s authentic conservatism, her record fighting the tough fight, or her passionate defence of her friends that draws me to her.

It is her determination to win.