Kemi Badenoch ‘refused to move’ Tory leadership contest to allow winner budget response

Former business secretary says Sunak and Hunt better placed to respond to Rachel Reeves’ economic policies

Kemi Badenoch has been blamed by senior Tories for “missing the chance” for the party to “make a mark” in its response to the budget because the leadership frontrunner had been unwilling to move the dates of the contest.

Sources close to Badenoch had said there was no prospect of changing the timetable when the matter was raised by other candidates earlier in the autumn, with most of her rivals said to be backing the change to allow them to respond to Rachel Reeves’ first budget.