Tennant row isn’t about Badenoch’s profile, it’s just her style, allies say
Kemi Badenoch is not seeking to boost her leadership profile by picking a fight with Doctor Who star David Tennant, friends of the minister have insisted – saying she simply enjoys standing up for herself online.
The Business Secretary, who is also Equalities Minister, has had a row with Tennant after he launched an attack on her record on transgender rights.
Accepting being named the Celebrity Ally at the British LGBT awards, Tennant said Pride was “a family affair, we have skin in the game”.
He said in his acceptance speech: “If I’m honest I’m a little depressed by the fact that acknowledging that everyone has the right to be who they want to be and live their life how they want to live it as long as they’re not hurting anyone else should merit any kind of special award or special mention, because it’s common sense, isn’t it?
“It is human decency. We shouldn’t live in a world where that is worth remarking on.
“However, until we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn’t exist any more – I don’t wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up – whilst we do live in this world, I am honoured to receive this.
“I am thrilled to be here and to be a part of this night. Pride is very important in our house – it’s a family affair, we have skin in the game – so this event tonight thrills me.”
Ms Badenoch, who earlier this month promised to bar transgender women from single-sex spaces, hit back on X, formerly Twitter: “I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritise applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls.
“A rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology he can’t see the optics of attacking the only black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end.”
The minister’s friends said that she was not seeking to promote her own profile ahead of a future bid for the Conservative leadership – pointing to her track record of openly confronting people who target her with political attacks. “That’s just her style,” a friend remarked to i.
Another ally said Ms Badenoch wanted to highlight Labour’s policy on gender issues, which has shifted over recent years from a position of supporting self-identification for trans people to prioritising the protection of single-sex spaces.
The source told i: “David Tennant is a Labour supporter projecting exactly what Labour would do in government, namely stirring up crowds to try and silence people they disagree with.
“Then Labour MP Dawn Butler wades in with support for Tennant, showing how deep Labour’s intolerance goes. Keir Starmer needs to urgently say if he agrees with Butler, and what it says about his Labour Party if he doesn’t.”
Ms Butler, the MP for Brent East, posted on X following the exchange: “Not all black women think the same. I agree with David Tennant.” But some other Labour politicians have criticised the actor’s comments about Ms Badenoch.
Sir Keir Starmer said he “wouldn’t have engaged” in the same way as Tennant, adding: “I think in politics, as in life, it’s really important that we are able to robustly disagree with others. Obviously, that happens a lot in the general election campaign, but we should do it with respect for everybody involved in that robust discussion.”
Rishi Sunak said: “Freedom of speech is the most powerful feature of our democracy. If you’re calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist, you are the problem.”
Ms Badenoch is the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next leader of the Conservative Party, in the event that Mr Sunak steps down after what the polls suggest will be a heavy general election defeat. This week she refused to play down her ambitions, saying only: “We will talk about leadership things after an election, not before.”
In a speech to business leaders on Thursday she doubled down on her feud with Tennant as she attacked Labour’s business policies, saying: “Their vision of the future economy is one that micro-manages your business to meet their political objectives.
“That includes the divisive agenda of identity politics. And I’m never going to shut up about that, no matter how many Doctor Whos say so.
“Identity politics is why Labour’s biggest change is to introduce a new Race Equality Act. In their manifesto they say they will enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities.
“But you know and I know we already have laws that do that. This is going to be much more political. A law that will be used to work out what people of different ethnicities should be paid.
