THE Tory leadership election has roared into action before the PM has even resigned – with frontrunner Kemi Badenoch SAVAGED by a leading Boris Johnson ally.
The polls are still yet to even open but former MP Nadine Dorries has already torn into Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and said she would “continue the chaos” of Rishi Sunak.
The business secretary is seen as a frontrunner to succeed Rishi Sunak if the Tories are wiped out at the ballot boxes tomorrow.
Boris backer Nadine told The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots that Kemi would be an “absolute disaster” and we need a “clear out” of the current Conservative crop of frontbenchers.
She said: “If Kemi Badenoch becomes leader of the Conservative Party, that will mean a continuation of chaos within the Conservative Party. It will mean the continuation of those people I talk about in my book like Dougie Smith and others and it will be an absolute disaster.
“The Tory party needs a clear out of those individuals who’ve assisted to create the chaotic position we are in now.
“It cannot be Kemi Badenoch if we want a fresh start and we want a grown up Conservative Party.”
Badenoch has had to distance herself from claims she is gearing up to replace Sunak if he falls on election night.
It recently emerged a website called kemi4leader.co.uk was registered earlier this year and currently redirects to the Conservative Party site.
A source close to the business secretary said that it was “nothing to do with her”.
Another site called backingbadenoch.co.uk is thought to be made by grassroots activists.
She is standing as a candidate in North West Essex which she took with a 27,594 majority in the last election.
Dorries said that Sunak needs to promptly resign the Tory leadership if his party is decimated on election night tomorrow.
She said: “You remember William Hague stood down by 9.30 the following morning when he didn’t quite make it.
“I think any self-respecting prime minister has to do that.”
Dorries claimed that her party could have been on track for another five years in power if former PM Boris Johnson was still in charge.
Our Political Editor Harry Cole will host a star-studded panel of experts live from Sun HQ at 10.15pm on Thursday for a snap reaction to the all-important exit poll.
And then we’ll be back at 8am on Friday to chew over the full results and fallout from the race for No10.
Britain could wake up to a new Prime Minister on July 5 if Sir Keir Starmer proves the polls right and cruises into Downing Street.
But might Rishi Sunak do enough to deny the Labour leader a dreaded supermajority and prevent a full-scale Tory wipeout?
For the very best analysis tune in on The Sun’s YouTube page or thesun.co.uk. You won’t want to miss it.
She said: “I think we would be looking at not the massive majority of 80 because we’ve been 14 years in power and it’s very hard for a government that’s been in place for 14 years to come back with a massive majority.
“But we would have been returning with Boris Johnson against Keir Starmer, with a majority of somewhere around 40 MPs.”
