Alithea Williams, Blog

In their bid to select a new leader to replace Rishi Sunak, Conservative MPs have whittled down the candidates from six to two. The membership will now choose between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick.

Who are they, and where do these two stand on our issues?

1.           The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP

Kemi Badenoch was widely seen as the frontrunner going into the race. Other candidates grew their profiles during the last few months, and she has made a few gaffes, but is still considered a favourite among the party faithful. Holding the roles of Business Minister and Women’s and Equalities Minister in the last Government, she has made a name for herself as being outspoken on controversial issues such as gender. It is also worth noting that she is good on upholding free speech.

Abortion

Mrs Badenoch, the MP for North West Essex, has quite a good voting record on abortion, voting against making DIY abortion permanent, and against buffer zones. She abstained on the original amendment imposing abortion on Northern Ireland, though she did vote through later regulations enforcing it.

However, she has described herself as “very, very pro-choice”, telling a podcast that she voted against making DIY abortion permanent because “but you can still be pro-choice and yet think well, maybe not like that, I don’t think that way is appropriate”.

Assisted suicide

Mrs Badenoch was not yet an MP when the subject was last voted on in the Commons, and had not previously spoken on it. However, when asked at last week’s Conservative Party conference where she stood on the issue, she said: “On assisted suicide, personally I am sympathetic to assisted suicide but I know how government works.

“I have seen it from the inside. I do not trust any government or civil service to be able to deliver this.”

The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP

Robert Jenrick, a former immigration minister, made waves by quitting Rishi Sunak’s Government over “strong disagreements” with the government's Rwanda asylum plan, arguing that it did not go far enough to tackle illegal immigration.

Abortion

He has a bad voting record on abortion, having voted to decriminalise abortion, to impose abortion on Northern Ireland, to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics, and to make DIY abortion permanent.

Assisted suicide

His voting record on assisted suicide is no better, having voted for it in 2015, and expressing support since.

However, he seems to have undergone a conversion on the issue. In September, Mr Jenrick told i that he has changed his mind and no longer backs assisted dying.

His allies say that his about-turn has been informed by what has happened in Canada. He has now gone even further, calling on Keir Starmer to block the private members bill being brought by Kim Leadbeater. Mr Jenrick said: “There is almost no issue as sensitive and potentially risky as the legalisation of assisted suicide.

“In Canada, where a law was rushed through, patients are being pushed into medical assistance in death in order to unclog hospital beds.

“In Oregon, patients with anorexia are being offered the chance to end their own lives. In Europe, both children and the mentally ill are being euthanised.”

He added: “ We must never allow vulnerable patients to be pushed into an assisted death. This rush to legislate poses a serious risk of thousands of lonely and elderly patients being forced into deaths before their time.

“There is no justification for such a rapid attempt to upend the law.

“Starmer needs to pull this bill immediately and – in its place – conduct a full consultation to develop a proposal that would not endanger the lives of the elderly and vulnerable.”