Rod Liddle: UK Correspondent on the restructure and Conservative Leadership Election

The Tories are in for a restructure after their defeat in the UK election. 

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party, saying in his speech that he has “heard your anger”. 

UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking that nobodies looking forward to the Conservative Leadership election, as it will “usually be a b**** fest” and remind everyone of the people who used to run them. 

He said that Kemi Badenoch is currently out in front, with a strong showing from Tom Tugendhat, and Suella Braverman. 

Liddle told him that if there was a vote tomorrow, the right would win, but historically the person at the front of a Tory Leadership contest never actually wins. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well are UK bound, Rod Littlebury, morning to you, Good
morning to you mate. Since we have last talked and
having had a week's holiday, I haven't had a chance
to dissct the election, which was pretty much as you
called it. It was like having seen that just quickly
on the MMP thing versus FPP. Look at the number
of seats they got versus the thirty seven percent of
the vote. There's something wrong with that system, isn't there.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
There's something totally wrong with the system. I mean, it's
no one be grutt it's labor a victory. Everybody was
sick of the Conservative Party, even quite a lot of
Conservatives as it happens. But to get that number of seats,
you know, this massive, massive majority on a lower proportion

(00:42):
of the vote than Jeremy Corbyn got in twenty seventeen,
it's bizarre. I mean it's bizarre. And the Liberal Democrats,
you know, they get seventy odd seats with fourteen percent
of the vote. I think Reform got either thirteen or fifteen.
I forget now up with five. I mean, it is
an absurdity. First past the post works when there's just

(01:05):
two parties in it. It doesn't work when there's a
multiplicity of parties.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
As regards the Tories, what do they do now Brushy's gone,
of course are going and so where do they go?
Who do they pick? How does that process work and
how long does it take.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I've been talking to quite a few of them. There's
quite a few, both defenestrated Conservative MPs and ones who
have been re elected who since they need to make
an accommodation with the Reform Party, and this would be
along the lines of an alliance of the right, as
the sophologist Matthew Goodwin has put it, a historic realignment,

(01:41):
so that suddenly the Conservative Party and Reform are as
one and are pushed out a bit to the margins,
but with an awful lot of popular vote. Then there
are the one nation Tories. Now I don't think they
have a lect to stand on because there is very
little clear blue water between what they are and what
the Labor Party Areque is for. And whilst they say,

(02:04):
you know, the Tory Party has always at its best
when it's a one nation party from the center that
is not bought up by the electoral statistics. Because Tory
parties which have come from the right of one in
seventy nine, eighty three, eighty seven, twenty nineteen, and very
rarely win from the center because they need those working
class votes. So at the moment, where are we with

(02:26):
the Conservative leadership. Nobody is looking forward to the Conservative
leadership election because it will usually be a bitch fest
and nasty and remind us all of the people who
used to run us. But Kenny Baderock is out in
front at the moment. There's a strong showing from Tom Tuganhat,

(02:47):
who is kind of liberal but quite open minded. There's
also a fairly strong showing from Suella Braverman, but she
doesn't play well for some reason with the public. I
think if there was a vote tomorrow, the right would
win it. The thing is that the person who's at
the front in a Tory leadership contest never actually wins,

(03:08):
so that's something Kenny ought to be beware of.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Now. I've been doing a lot of reading about this
new government of yours, and they've got eight key plans apparently,
including finding cash for wind power and helping first buyers
under the housing market and all sorts of They're going
to let some people out of jail. Are they in
a honeymoon. You read a two part question. One can
they do all of this too? Are they in a
honeymoon period?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
I think they probably can do quite a bit of it.
And yes, they're in a honeymoon period, and I would
suggest for a year or two. You know, this is
going to be a long honeymoon period. So for example,
today we had announced a massive like transit system for Leeds.
Leeds is the only country of its it's the only

(03:49):
city of its size in Europe which doesn't have a
mass transit system. You know, it's a really important city.
It's up in the north of England just about and
it deserves a mass transit system and that has now
been announced. It will be a tram which will go
to Bradford, take you down to Kirklees and so on.
And that's really what leveling up should have been about,

(04:11):
but never was. So that's a huge markup for the
Labor Party there. I think they've got to get at
grips with energy. I think they've got to build a
few nuclear power stations and I think they can do that.
We're already hearing very good things from west Street in
who is the Labor health spokesman. Are properly reforming the

(04:33):
NHS in a way that the Tories kind of couldn't
get away with. And he's also said that puberty blockers
will continue to be banned for people under the age
of eighteen. All of this plays very well with the public.
I've got to say, I think the honeymoon will be
a longish one.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Quick word on the football yesterday. This time yesterday, I
didn't think they look likely in the game at all.
Really to Southgate go? What happens now?

Speaker 2 (04:59):
My guess is south Kate won't go, which will annoy
an awful lot of people, but not his friends in
the sporting sections of the media. He's been found wanting
at every time England have come up against a very
good team. Now, most people would be found out coming
up against Spain, Spain with the deserved winners, and there's
no question about that. But England waited until the seventy

(05:22):
fifth minute before they attacked, and you know that's been
the story of his entire regime. I think the best
possible option is he gets knighted, everyone says thank you
very very much and he goes. If possible, If that
could happen, I would be a happy man.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Well we're after that, Rod go, well, we'll see Thursday.
Rod a little out of Britain. By the way, my
reference to the eight key plans. Pretty good piece by
the BBC comprehensive piece the other day as to what
their key plans are and how achievable or not they are.
They've got the asylum seeker backlog, they've got people in
the first times. As I mentioned water bills as a
major issue, but this prisoner release thing fascinates me. Thousands

(06:04):
of them are going to be released early as of
the start of September. Muhmood Sabana Mummud is the new
Justice secretary. Total collapse of the prison system and you
always read into a little bit of that, of course
what they want you to hear, because it's politics. But
they're claiming a total collapse of the prison system, total
breakdown of law and order without urgent action to ease
the prison overcrowding. Under the plan, prisoners will be released

(06:27):
after they have served forty percent of their sentence in
England and Wales rather than the regular fifty percent, so
more people back on the streets. So it will be
interesting to see how that plays for more from the
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