Kemi Badenoch warns she is the only Tory leader who can 'cut through'

Kemi Badenoch has warned she is the only Tory leader hopeful who could 'cut through' to voters as she struggles to move on from a row over maternity pay.

The shadow housing secretary made a virtue of her willingness to court controversy after a turbulent day at party conference in Birmingham.

Allies have complained of a 'Stop Kemi' campaign by supporters of rival Robert Jenrick, who seized on her loose comments about work benefits for mothers. 

Ms Badenoch was arguing during an interview that businesses face too much red tape and the tax burden is too high when she was pressed on maternity pay. 

She was accused of suggesting that the benefit was 'excessive', and insisted that women had 'more babies' before it was introduced. As the spat gathered pace, Ms Badenoch was forced to make a statement denying she supported reducing maternity pay. 

However, an ally of Mr Jenrick said: 'It's quite special to go Kemi-kazi on the first day of conference. Which group of potential Tory voters is she going to try to alienate next?' 

At a Centre for Policy Studies event Mr Jenrick went openly on the attack. 'I don't agree with Kemi on this one,' he said. 'I'm a father of three young daughters, I want to see them get the support that they need when they enter the workplace.

'Our maternity pay is amongst the lowest in the OECD. I think the Conservative Party should be firmly on the side of parents and working mums who are trying to get on.

'I know how difficult that is, we should be supporting them and not making their lives more difficult.'

A source close to Ms Badenoch hit back by accusing her opponent of 'scoring points'. 

'We need to be better, we need our politics to be better. Kemi obviously supports maternity pay and was making a case for lower regulation - something she always aimed for as business secretary,' they said. 

'For other leadership campaigns to be seeking to use selective quotes from an interview to score political hits, shows they're still wedded to the old politics and simply aren't serious about getting back to government.' 

At a ConservativeHome event at conference last night, Ms Badenoch had the last slot for a short speech to activists. She jibed that 'I think we all know I'm the one everyone has been waiting for'. 

And she told them that 'someone who is going to cut through, someone who is going to stand up to (Labour) and someone to face down Farage'. 

Tom Tugendhat and Ms Badenoch will face questions from party members in Birmingham, while Liz Truss is expected at a fringe in-conversation event on the second day of the four-day gathering.

The Conservatives' last conference in Birmingham in 2022 was dominated by Tory infighting over Ms Truss's ill-fated mini budget.

The contest to replace Rishi Sunak as leader has taken centre stage at the party's first conference since their general election defeat - but he has now departed the scene after a single speech apologising to members.

James Cleverly will also face questions on stage tomorrow, before all four contenders make speeches on Wednesday before the close of the conference.