Majority of Hackney Conservative councilors back Kemi Badenoch's leadership bid – Hackney Citizen

“Kemi-fever”: conservative councilor Simche Steinberger. Photography: Julia Grégory

As the Tory leadership race enters its final week, Hackney Tory councilors are overwhelmingly backing Kemi Badenoch to lead the party at Westminster.

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

Although he initially supported James Cleverly, who was surprisingly eliminated in the final round of voting, Steinberger said he was now “a proud Kemi voter” and expressed distrust of Robert Jenrick, who has been described as the far-right candidate.

“He voted to remain, and all of a sudden he wants to do this European thing, ban everyone from entering.

“I think his policies are not even thought out enough and I don’t even think that when he is in government he will be able to do what he says.”

“I call her Liz Jenrick,” he said, referring to the political background of former Conservative leader Liz Truss.

“She was liberal-democrat, then conservative. She was a Remainer, then she became a Leaver. This was all just to win management.

Truss, who was prime minister for only 45 days, oversaw a tenure fraught with political and economic turmoil.

Councilman Steinberger said: “I don't think she really changed anything, and that's why she didn't know what she was doing. I exactly feel like with Robert Jenrick it's some really cool and promising stuff, but I don't think he's going to deliver anything.

He says Badenoch is much better placed to unify the party, which was reduced to 121 seats at Westminster in July's general election, in which Labor won a landslide majority.

“Under Kemi we will return to a team working together, unless we have another situation where we have a 'Team Jenrick' trying to break everything behind the scenes to have another chance to take the lead, like Boris Johnson did it with Theresa May.

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

The ward's conservative sixth councilor, Shaul Krautwirt (Springfield), was asked who he supported, but had not responded as of this writing.

To challenge Labor, Jenrick proposed an immigration cap, opposing the ruling party's crazy plans for net zero emissions, shrinking the state, more house building and “defending” the British culture.

At this month's party conference, the former interior minister told campaigners the party must advocate leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or it would “die”, arguing that the international agreement prevents the UK from properly controlling its borders. .

Badenoch argued that conservatives needed to return to their core values ​​to win again.

Although she said she would be willing to leave the ECHR if necessary, she would first try to reform the state and the immigration system.

The former Secretary of State for Business has not announced concrete commitments to the same extent as her opponent, but she is known for her “pragmatic” approach and “anti-woke” positions.

In June, she was involved in a public row with David Tennant, famous for the lead role in the transgender rights TV show Doctor Whoover.

During the leadership campaign, she claimed that UK maternity pay had “gone too far”, but later said her position had been distorted by a more general comment about the wider need to reduce business regulation.

Regarding this, Councilor Steinberger said: “There will always be one or two things a politician says that we don't like. »

But he said he generally supported Badenoch's policies, particularly her recent promise to restore tax breaks for private schools if she became prime minister.

“I also feel very safe with [Kemi] because the people she is surrounded by are safe people. I can't say the same about Jenrick, who surrounds himself with loud people and doesn't choose the right people for the right jobs.

Steinberger discussed Jenrick's promise to appoint Jacob Rees-Mogg as party president if he wins.

“I have nothing against [Rees-Mogg]I am not necessarily on the left or right of the party. But he had a seat up for grabs in the general election. He lost it.

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

“Every movement of the Jenrick campaign makes me even more Kemi. I have become feverish in Kemi,” he added.

Hackney's Labour-led council was contacted for comment on the two candidates for the next leader of the opposition, but did not respond.

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

Members of the Conservative Party have until Thursday October 31 to vote for their new leader.

The result will be announced on November 2.