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Badenoch and Braverman deny association with Tory leadership campaign
websites
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Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman have denied being associated with
website domains purporting to be for future leadership bids.
It comes as a source close to Penny Mordaunt told Sky News she kept
her domain active from **the 2022 contests** "for the same reason
you'd keep a spare tire in the boot" - and not to mount a challenge
against the PM.
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With **Rishi Sunak** widely expected to lose the election on Thursday,
there has been mounting speculation about what direction the
Conservatives will head in and who could take command.
While Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker has been **open about
fancying his chances** , other senior Tories are keeping their cards
close to their chests.
Over the weekend it emerged a website called kemi4leader.co.uk was
registered in April and currently redirects to the Conservative Party
homepage.
Business Secretary **Ms Badenoch** has long been considered a
favourite to succeed Mr Sunak on the Conservative right.
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However, a source close to her told Sky News the website domain is
"nothing to do with her".
Another one, backingbadenoch.co.uk, was last updated on 27 June, and
describes itself as a grassroots campaign on social media. This is
"totally independent" of the cabinet minister, the source said.
Meanwhile, the website used for Ms Badenoch's leadership attempt in
2022, kemiforprimeminister.com, no longer exists.
It is common for website domain names which may be in demand later to
be bought up and sold on for a profit.
Often in this case the domain would be parked and the offer to buy it
would be advertised, so it is unusual that in the case of the
Kemi4leader site that it redirects to the Conservatives' home page.
Ms Braverman has also told Sky News a website, Suella4leader.co.uk,
which redirects to her personal website, has nothing to do with her.
This was registered a few days after **Boris Johnson resigned** as
prime minister in July 2022 and was last updated in June this year.
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It is a different domain to the one Ms Braverman used when she sought
to replace him, which was Suella4leader.com and has since been parked
- meaning that it is still registered but not actively being used.
The campaign websites had fuelled speculation the Tories were already
eyeing their next move despite polling day still being two days away.
While both women have distanced themselves from the websites, they are
widely seen to be possible replacements for Mr Sunak in the event he
does lose the election.
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****
Image: Suella Braverman. Pic: Reuters
Ms Badenoch has not ruled out the possibility of another leadership
bid, having come fourth in the July 2022 contest to replace Mr
Johnson.
Speaking at a Bloomberg debate last week, she said her current
frontbench role is the "best job in the world" and "we will talk about
leadership things after an election, but not before".
Ms Braverman, the twice former home secretary, has been seen by some
to have been running a de-facto leadership campaign since **being
sacked by Mr Sunak last year,** having regularly made policy
interventions on slashing immigration and withdrawing from the
European Convention of Human Rights since then.
Like Ms Badenoch she is on the right of the Tory party - but some want
to see the Conservatives move back to the centre ground.
Commons leader Ms Mordaunt is seen as **one of the favourites** to
head the party in that direction.
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0:27
Mordaunt: Sunak's early D-day exit 'very wrong'
**Mordaunt domain kept alive**
Her PM4PM website which she set up in 2022 redirects to her personal
website and was last updated in May.
This was to prevent it expiring and not part of an active leadership
challenge, a source close to her said. Asked why she decided to keep
it alive, they added: "It's for the same reason you'd keep a spare
tire in the boot."
Ms Mordaunt was recently at the centre of rumours of a plot to oust Mr
Sunak - **something she strongly denied** at the time.
Many Conservatives are weary of the perception of more leadership talk
given the **calamitous events of 2022.**
If Mr Sunak does resign as leader after the election, it means the
Tories will have to choose their sixth leader in eight years.
Labour pointed to Mr Baker's comments to Sky News on Monday that he
"wouldn't mind the chance" to lead the party.
**Tories 'flaunting leadership ambitions'**
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow Paymaster General, said it was
"incredible that less than 60 hours until polling booths open, Tory
ministers are undermining the prime minister by boldly flaunting their
leadership ambitions on national television".
Who takes the reigns will ultimately depend on who survives the
hurricane **expected to hit the Tories on polling night**.
The party could be reduced to less than 100 seats in the worst-case
scenario, with several cabinet ministers at risk of being ousted.
That includes Ms Mordaunt, along with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
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