Conservative leadership contender Robert Jenrick has accused rival Kemi Badenoch of showing “disrespect” to voters by not debating him head-to-head.
The former immigration minister says the next leader of the Tory party must be a strong debater. The next leader of the opposition will have to face Sir Keir Starmer each week at Prime Minister’s Questions.
The two candidates took part in a GB News event last week but did not debate directly. A BBC Question Time special is not expected to go ahead, it is reported, after Ms Badenoch declined to take part.
Mr Jenrick said: “I will debate Kemi anytime, anywhere. I have agreed to debate after debate.
“Unfortunately, my opponent has declined. I think that is disrespectful to the members of our party and to the general public.
“We are applying for a serious job as leader of the opposition and as a future prime minister of this country. If you want that job, you have to be able to debate head to head.”
A debate would likely feature Mr Jenrick challenging Ms Badenoch on whether she would commit to taking the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights in order to remove people who do not have a right to live in the country.
He said: “Platitudes are not enough. I offer a credible plan today – not the vague promise of one tomorrow. No candidate is worthy of your vote if they can’t give you a clear plan as to how they would fix immigration today.”
A sticking point is that candidates are required to not participate in televised hustings unless these are arranged by the party chairman. According to the BBC, the Tories have stipulated that the studio audience must consist of Tory members but the broadcaster proposed that half of those present would be people with “a variety of political sentiments and voting history”.
A spokesman for Ms Badenoch’s campaign said: “Every candidate in this leadership contest agreed at the outset to rules that clearly state we will not participate in debates that haven’t been sanctioned by the party chairman. What is actually disrespectful is to consistently undermine the rules that Robert Jenrick himself agreed to back in July.”
Mr Jenrick argues that winning the public’s trust on immigration is key to the future of his party.
“I’m running to be Prime Minister of the country and that’s why our party needs to get serious on immigration so we can win back the voters we lost to Reform, as well as the voters we’ve lost to the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats, and get back into contention,” he said.
“If we don’t have a path to do that, then we’re never going to be in government again and we consign this country to a decade of Labour rule.”