KEMI Badenoch is the new leader of the Conservative Party and – while still a long way away from power – her hard-right rhetoric will be given pride of place by the UK media.
In her official position as Leader of the Opposition, Badenoch will have one of the largest platforms in the country from which to continue her attacks on Scottish devolution.
While we don’t really know any of her policies yet – because Badenoch refused to outline them during the Tory leadership contest – we can guess at what they might be, at least as far as Scotland is concerned.
Here is what Kemi Badenoch has said about Scotland.
The Union
Speaking to BBC Scotland last month, she insisted both that the Union was voluntary and that Scotland should not have an independence referendum.
Badenoch said: “The real question you're asking me is, do I think we should have another referendum? I don't think the answer is yes.”
Pushed that the Union is not then voluntary, she said: “I disagree, I think that it is.”
Devolution
In August, Scottish Tory MP Andrew Bowie spoke for Kemi Badenoch in an article for The Times, claiming she had “great respect” for devolution.
However, speaking for herself, Badenoch has suggested this is far from the case.
She instead said that the UK needed to “rewire, reboot, and reprogramme” devolution.
Questioned on how she would do that by BBC Scotland, Badenoch conceded she did not know.
“I know that it’s not working. If something is not working, I can say I want to fix this,” she said. “That doesn't mean that I've got a fully worked up plan."
In Parliament
In one revealing exchange, Badenoch showed her contempt for devolution.
In a debate on the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, Badenoch was asked by the SNP’s Kirsten Oswald about “the powers in the bill for UK Ministers to act in areas that are devolved to Scottish Ministers without consent or scrutiny”.
In a dismissive response, Badenoch said she was “trying really hard not to laugh”, adding that “bills such as this are best left in the hands of UK Government Ministers”.
In another memorable remark, former SNP MP Alan Brown asked Badenoch, then trade secretary, to name one Scottish farming sector, export business, or seafood firm that was happy with the Tories’ Brexit deal.
She responded: “It is not my job to memorise names of Scottish businesses.”
On social media
Kemi Badenoch has mentioned Scotland precisely three times on Twitter/X since she first joined the site in October 2015.
The most recent, in September this year, was to congratulate Russell Findlay on his election as Scottish Tory leader.
Congratulations @RussellFindlay1 on being elected leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party @ScotTories. I look forward to working with you to renew our party in Scotland and across the whole United Kingdom.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 27, 2024
In June, she claimed that people “only need to look at what the SNP did in Scotland to see what would have happened had we not intervened” in the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Given that her Tory government did intervene and the bill never became law, it is unclear what she meant.
And in April, in a tweet that made headlines, Badenoch said the “SNP want independence but are too lazy to do the work” in response to Humza Yousaf saying that the “UK Government's decision to extend Horizon legislation [exonerating subpostmasters] to every nation in the UK except Scotland is scandalous”.
About the Scottish Tories
She further said: “I am passionate about continuing to make the case for the benefits of our United Kingdom. Our MSPs are at the coalface of that fight, and with me as leader they will have an ally and a champion.”
It seems to have gone unremarked in the Unionist media how Badenoch’s words completely undermined previous rhetoric from Douglas Ross, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and a host of other former Tory leaders, who all repeatedly insisted that there were extremely close ties between the UK and Scottish Conservatives.
Given that Badenoch thinks Brits might change their mind on the free-at-the-point-of-use NHS, her and Findlay (who thinks Scots would be “perfectly happy” to see the end of free prescriptions) have a fair amount in common, at least.
What Kemi Badenoch hasn’t said
Kemi Badenoch has made a habit of dodging scrutiny. She has ducked appearances at Holyrood committees, and during the Conservative leadership contest refused media slots.
The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg called Badenoch out for refusing to take part in her Sunday show in October, and the broadcaster’s political editor said that she had refused to appear on a Tory leadership debate special unless 100% of the audience were Tory members.
Given that Badenoch has also refused to lay out a policy slate for even her own party members, it seems likely that she will continue dodging scrutiny as she sees fit.
