Kemi Badenoch Has Consigned the Conservative Party to a Culture War it is Likely to Lose

The Conservative party has just elected the least popular leader in its history. But could her many media supporters still succeed in getting her into Downing Street?

Kemi Badenoch’s election as the Conservative party’s new leader is a historic moment for several reasons.

The first of these is that she is the most unpopular leader the party has ever had.

Elected by just over half of the mere 94,000 Conservative members who bothered to vote in this contest, Badenoch has the lowest level of support among her party in both absolute and percentage terms, of any victorious candidate in its history.

Even if you just look at the votes of Conservative MPs, you have to go all the way back to Iain Duncan Smith to find a victorious candidate who won with even less support among their peers than Badenoch.

The picture among the public is even worse. According to a new YouGov poll published today, the Conservative party’s new leader is viewed favourably by just 12% of voters - up only a single point from when the contest started four months ago.

At best we can say that her low public recognition means she still has plenty of room for growth. At worst we can say that her ratings are only likely to get worse once more voters finally get to know who she really is.

So is today the moment the Conservatives lost the next general election, or could her many media supporters still succeed in getting her into Downing Street?

Here’s where I think things are likely to go.