There are fears either choice could split the Tory party...

A Tory backbencher has launched a scathing attack on the final two leadership hopefuls, saying that they have been given a ‘s**t choice’ amid fears that it could end up splitting the party.

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are the final two candidates who have been put to the Tory party membership, with the result of the contest set to be announced on November 2^nd.

Both Badenoch and Jenrick have in recent weeks pulled even further to the right, whipping up culture wars and pushing hard-right policies in a bid to appeal to Reform voters and the party’s membership.

The Tory Reform Group (TRG), which represents many one nation Conservatives, said it could not endorse either Badenoch or Jenrick.

Jenrick has made leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR) a key part of his campaign, a move that could receive opposition from some Tory MPs. He also made controversial remarks recently claiming that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.

Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, wrote on X that the claims were “one of the most astonishing videos I have ever seen posted by a Conservative MP, let alone a candidate for the leadership”.

Badenoch meanwhile has claimed during the leadership contest that maternity pay is ‘excessive’, despite the fact that it is one of the lowest in the OECD and has also taken aim at the minimum wage, claiming that it is harming businesses.

A Tory backbencher told the Guardian: “We have a choice of an ECHR one-trick pony, who believes our special forces murder people, and an anti-woke one-trick pony who picks endless fights. As a choice, it’s s**t.”

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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