DX reporter quizzes Jenrick on enforcing Tory party discipline

       Robert Jenrick launched his pitch to win the backing of Conservative Party members today, with an uncompromising plan to “get serious” and ‘send Labour packing’.

       First out of the gates following his surprise entry into the final-two run-off, he launched a number of thinly veiled attacks against rival Kemi Badenoch, who he warned would preside over further drama and infighting within the Conservative Party.

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       He reiterated his plan to change the Tories ahead of the election, including his well-known pledge to quit the European Court of Human Rights, introduce a legal cap on migration and change the immigration guidelines to prioritise integration.

       However Mr Jenrick also dedicated a large portion of the speech to focussing on his two other causes of public sector reform and the economy.

       He promised that the Tories will stand for building more homes, but would reverse Labour’s cuts to building targets in inner cities such as London while calling for thousands of new homes in areas that don’t need them.

       READ MORE: Robert Jenrick says he has ‘Nigel Farage rattled’ in pitch to Tory members

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       Robert Jenrick's hardline policy risks dividing the Tories (Image: PA)

       He also outlined his plans for public sector reform, including the NHS, in which wasteful state spending is stripped back while the Government focuses on doing fewer things better.

       While his speech was well-received by his parliamentary supporters, Wednesday’s drama surrounding James Cleverly’s elimination from the race has raised concerns that the Conservative Party could be set for years more internal squabbling as the centre ground lost its last remaining leadership hopeful.

       The Express put to Mr Jenrick that with just one in three Tory MPs supporting him, and with such a divisive and uncompromising policy on the ECHR, that he could risk party disunity in the coming years.

       However the leadership contender insisted he has support from all quarters of the Conservative Party from left to right, and he should not be pigeonholed as a right-winger.

       He argued that the coming weeks’ battle with Ms Badenoch should be used to have the essential debate about what the party stands for, and implied his victory should be seen as a mandate by MPs.

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       Ms Badenoch's campaign accused Jenrick of lacking original ideas (Image: Getty)

       Mr Jenrick said: “I want to use this leadership contest to settle some of the big questions facing our party and our country - that is surely the purpose of having this long contest.

       “Not to spend months debating personalities, not to say ‘there will be a plan tomorrow but we don’t know what it is’. That is a recipe for more infighting and for more loss of public trust.

       “I want a mandate now from the members of this party for us to go on and unite around those clear solutions. That is the way to heal this party and regain the public’s trust.”

       In a sign of the party’s troubles yet to come, senior Conservative and former MP Steve Baker warned after Mr Jenrick’s speech that his victory could cause a problem.

       Mr Baker, who is backing Ms Badenoch, hit back: “Leaving the ECHR is only a means to an end. And only if, reluctantly, it proves unavoidable after reform fails.”

       "Institutions which were established as bulwarks against totalitarianism ought not to be lightly cast aside.”

       Another Conservative frontbencher told the Express that he can’t now see “how a third of the party can be brought in under either [candidate].”

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       They added: “I don’t think either can put their arms around people”.

       Hitting back at his speech’s criticism, a Badenoch campaign source fumed: “Robert Jenrick can't stop talking about Kemi because other than one unoriginal idea of leaving the ECHR, he has absolutely nothing to say.”

       “Kemi is the voice of authentic conservatism, and as the candidate with the most support from Tory MPs, councillors and members, she is best placed to unite the party and take the fight to Labour."

       In a further worrying development for both Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick, the centrist Tory Reform Group put out a statement today refusing to endorse either one of them.

       The group, which includes prominent One Nation MPs like Damian Green and former leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat, blasted that they have “been consistently disappointed by the lack of engagement from the two candidates chosen by MPs.”

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       “Both have used rhetoric and focused on issues which are far and away from the party at its best, let alone the One Nation values we cherish and uphold.”

       However one Kemi Badenoch supporter insisted that while they have disagreements with Mr Jenrick’s position on the ECHR, they won’t hesitate to back him should he prove victorious.

       They told the Express they don’t believe the party will split following a Mr Jenrick victory, and they would respect the mandate he had been given by party members.