Kemi Badenoch Refuses To Answer Media Questions After Leadership Speech

Kemi Badenoch blanked all journalists after her final speech at the Conservative Party conference today and just hurried away from the press pack.

The Tory leadership candidate was the last of the four remaining contenders hoping to replace Rishi Sunak to speak to the party faithful on the last day of the annual gathering.

Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick all spoke to the press immediately after coming off stage, as is customary.

But Badenoch, who told delegates in her speech that they should “not be afraid” to share their politics, did not even stop to acknowledge the media.

She just kept walking past the waiting press pack, who then haphazardly tried to follow her and her team through the conference centre.

“Kemi are you going to stop and talk to the press like everybody else has?” one journalist asked – which Badenoch refused to respond to.

In another clip, she can be heard saying, “I’m off to my next event,” but she clammed up again when a different reporter asked: “Why didn’t you want to answer questions?”

She did not say anything at all, and just walked silently up some stairs of the building. 

It’s not dissimilar to the approach adopted by former Tory PM Liz Truss since she left office in 2022.

Despite making several high profile appearances this year, she now just walks straight past waiting press packs without uttering a single word whenever she sees them – including on Monday after her own event at the Conservative Party conference.

Badenoch’s curious silence comes after a tumultuous few days for the leadership candidate.

She caused a row earlier this week by claiming maternity pay was “excessive”, only to later issue a clarification.

She also claimed minimum wage is “over-burdening” business and alleged up to 10% of civil servants should be “in prison”.