Eric Sukumaran

Conservative politics in the UK. British parliamentary candidate 2024. Kemi Badenoch constituency champion - Oxford East

[Genie AI @geniegetsme]

This is the beginning of something singular. The world's most *social* intelligence. Live now.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

You may not agree with me, but you will always know where you stand with me.

Today in Billericay, a heckler tried to shout me down as I spoke about the normalisation of hatred towards Jews. I did not back down, because it needs to be said. British Jews are being targeted and too many people are pretending this is the same experience of other minorities. This lady implied Muslims are being similarly targeted. This is simply not true.

Let's be honest about what is happening. Certain groups (in particular but not solely Islamic Extremists) are creating a climate of fear and intimidation that is normalising Jew hatred. I will never stand for that. Governments have spent too long hand-wringing, making excuses and hoping it would go away. It is time to call this what it is: a national emergency in our attitude, our urgency and our response.

I will always engage with people who disagree with me. That is politics. But there is a difference between argument and intimidation. Shouting does not make a bad case good. It's done to silence others. And it certainly does not change the truth.

The truth is that British Jews have been made to feel less safe in their own country. Our country. They are being singled out, threatened and harassed in ways that should shame everyone in public life. If we do not stand up now and stop this rise in antisemitism, then why bother saying "Never Again" at Holocaust Memorial Day? Because this is how it starts.

I am not prepared to play along with the pretence that this is normal, or manageable, or just another example of tension between groups. It really is not. It is targeted hatred and it is getting worse.

So my message is simple. Not here. Not in Britain. And not on our watch. We need to stop the hand-wringing and start doing the right thing. That means standing with British Jews openly, unapologetically and without fear.

[Michael Fabricant 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇦 @Mike_Fabricant]

Got my Council Tax Bill
❌ Staffordshire County (Reform)
UP 3.9%
❌ Lichfield City (Labour)
UP 6.0%
✅ Lichfield District (Conservative)
UP 1.9% below inflation

Says it all

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

.@tomcruise is leaving London.

Here’s why it matters.

[GB News @GBNEWS]

'This is a full blown crisis in Downing Street... We are not being governed!'

Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch reacts as Keir Starmer's Director of Communications Tim Allan resigns, and discusses whether an early general election would be in the public interest.

[Kevin Edger @KEdge23]

Excellent interview from Conservative Kemi Badenoch here. Absolutely nails it.

“Asking me to pick which particular poison we should swallow, that’s not my job.”

“The person who should replace them is me, and my team of Conservatives.” Absolutely.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Keir Starmer CHOSE to hire a friend of Epstein.

He CHOSE to ignore vetting advice.

He CHOSE not to care.

Our country is not being governed. Britain deserves better.

[Vodka & Seledka 🇬🇧 @seledka_vodka]

I think what happened last week is @KemiBadenoch and the @Conservatives serving nothing short of a Hadooken to Starmer’s political career.

A masterful opposition combo move that all of us without exception will benefit from.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.

I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his Shadow Cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party.

The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in THIS government.

I will not repeat those mistakes.

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

We are NOT in a good pace if the operations at a single factory come close to determining if the economy is growing or shrinking.
#economicgrowth #economy #uk

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

Well well. Looks like 2029 isn’t a foregone conclusion after all…. @Conservatives

[electionmapsuk @electionmapsuk]

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 24% (-2)
CON: 20% (+1)
LAB: 19% (+2)
LDM: 16% (=)
GRN: 14% (-2)

Via @YouGov, 11-12 Jan.
Changes w/ 4-5 Jan.

[Katharine Birbalsingh @Miss_Snuffy]

If you aren’t convinced that Labour are a bunch of ideologues wanting to destroy the chances of poor kids, then read this. 👇

It is so appalling.

I don’t know how they live with themselves.

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

What’s changed? I don’t think it’s Reform’s policies…….

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

"Nadhim Zahawi, a few years ago you tweeted: 'I'm not British born Mr Nigel Farage, I'm as British you are. Your comments are offensive and racist. I would be frightened to live in a country run by you'"

@nadhimzahawi has just joined Reform.

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

I have a lot of time for this policy. As a new father I think about it a lot. Enforceability will be an issue- kids will find ways of circumventing. I’d be interested to see how Australia deals with it in the coming years. Good to see us taking good lessons from our friends!

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Enough is enough.

Social media is taking childhood from our children.

Today, @LauraTrottMP and I met with a group of parents crying out for stronger safeguards for children online. That's why we have a plan to introduce age limits for social media access for under 16s.

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

A lot of ex-MPs who expected to be welcomed back to apply for their old seats are denied because they don’t meet the new high bar being placed on Conservative candidates. In a strop/desperation they jump ship to Reform. @redditchrache’s insight reveals all on Zahawi’s defection.

[Rachel Maclean @redditchrache]

Daming statements from Zahawi's former Stratford on Avon colleagues tell the full story.

Nobody wanted him back because no-one liked him and his tax fiddling reputation was seriously damaging.

As his former constituency neighbour it was obvious he never worked or even visited his constituency.

As ever this defection is all about him. He realised he had no route back as a Conservative MP or a Peer.

Our party under new leadership values hard work, honesty and most of all Conservative values. He doesn't embody a single one.

Statements below:

Nadhim Zahawi’s decision to join Reform UK is self serving and a kick in the teeth for loyal local Conservative party members who supported his re-selection in 2023 when every single member of the then Conservative cabinet at Stratford District Council wanted him to step down”. Says Cllr Daren Pemberton, leader of the Conservative group on Stratford District Council.
Daren went on “He has clearly been on a journey that has taken him both physically and politically away from the values and focus of Stratford Conservatives, which are to make peoples lives better through opportunity and aspiration, individual freedom and responsibility, sound finances, and delivering world class local services that meet residents needs”
Nadhim Zahawi’s political influence and relevance is long behind him and from here on Reform UK in Stratford District will be personified by Nadhim Zahawi which will make it absolutely clear to local voters what they will get with Reform UK….self, self, self.

and, the Chairman's:

South Warwickshire Conservative Association regrets the decision of the former Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon to leave the Conservative Party. Political parties are built on shared values, commitment and service, and we are disappointed to see that he can no longer feels that he can support Conservative party values.
We are also surprised by the timing of his decision when confidence and support for the Conservative’s message and leadership is growing again; both nationally and locally in Stratford District. Under new leadership, the Conservative Party is once again setting out an authentically Conservative direction: focused on responsibility, opportunity, sound management of public finances, and genuine service to local residents and the nation as a whole. We remain confident that our renewed sense of purpose will continue to resonate with voters in the Stratford-on-Avon constituency and across the country.

[Conservatives @Conservatives]

Last night Conservatives defeated the government on the Chagos Surrender Bill.

In response, Keir Starmer has been forced to delay the bill.

We're fighting the surrender every step of the way.

Join us 👉https://t.co/o8mBhiH2EZ

[Kevin Hollinrake MP @kevinhollinrake]

Kemi is the real deal.

Lots of work still to do, but write us off at your peril.

https://t.co/xQ8TOaWFqj

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

Lifting the #familyfarmtax threshold is a considerable victory for our country’s farmers. I’m delighted, though frankly I think the new level is still too low.

As @KemiBadenoch says below, consistent pressure from the @Conservatives was crucial. We deliver for #farmers .

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

So now we’ve crossed the rubicon from incompetence to untrustworthiness. Parliament should not pass this budget of lies. Reeves must resign immediately. A new chancellor should present a new budget based on the truth.

[Eric Sukumaran @EricPolitical]

What @seledka_vodka said!!

[Vodka & Seledka 🇬🇧 @seledka_vodka]

I'm going to ask you to join @Conservatives, but hear me out before you scroll over.

I'm going to be brutally honest with you.

I'm a @Conservatives member, and in July 2024 I voted Reform.

At the time, my party had dragged itself to a position where it literally could not govern anymore - forget talking right and governing left, governance was simply non-existent. I knew the party needed an electoral defeat to trigger an internal renewal mechanism, because without that external shock, the renewal this party desperately needs would never happen.

I was very close to quitting the party. Then @KemiBadenoch threw her hat in the ring for the second time and won the leadership bid. I supported her massively then, and I still do now, because as a politician she stands for what I stand for.

She's an absolute delivery-focused maniac. She brings a business-style, get-stuff-done attitude to politics, which I rate highly. She's principled, and she's now casting a massive leadership shadow on the Conservative Party at large.

Her performance yesterday wasn't performative politics. Yes, I gleefully watched her trash Labour and their growth-destroying budget, and I enjoyed the verbal and political shots fired at the Labour Party. But fundamentally, Kemi is performing an absolutely incredible constitutional duty as the leader of His Majesty's Opposition, putting the politics, choices and characters of our current inept government under eviscerating scrutiny.

The surgical approach and formidable attitude with which she took on this job tells me the Party is in the right hands.

I am categorically telling you now that I believe wholeheartedly that Kemi will renew the Conservative Party so that by the next election it approaches with a 100% right-of-centre manifesto - purely conservative, authentically true blue, no wets, no yellows, no dilutions, full-strength Thatcherite.

She will ensure that anyone who wants to stand as a candidate for the Conservative Party will be a right-wing zealot. No wets, no wokes, no yellows. She will make sure there's enough party discipline to push the Conservative manifesto through and stop at nothing as legislators to make it happen - to go to war with the quangos, to go to war with the woke, left-leaning and useless civil service if required.

Whatever it takes, however long it takes, I believe the Conservative Party under Kemi's leadership will stop at nothing. Fundamentally, her vision for Britain as a society that encourages people doing the right thing - that rewards enterprise, hard work and risk-taking whilst discouraging riding on people's backs - is my vision too.

That's why I'm not only sticking with the party, but also encouraging everyone who was touched emotionally by Kemi's speech yesterday to join us. Join the renewal.

Join the party.

Make no mistake - the mountain to climb is steep. The party isn't perfect, and I'm going to be honest with you: I don't personally agree with every decision the party leadership has taken since Kemi took over. But we're also a party that listens, and we're not a party of sycophants.

You can study my feed and you'll see I've criticised the party's leadership and pointed out glaring omissions in what needs doing on many occasions. Yet, I believe it is a political organisation that will come to the next general election representing us like no one else. Despite previous failures, the party still has probably the biggest amount of talent to turn Britain around than any other Party.

Kemi will make sure this talent surfaces. She'll make sure the best people are put in the right jobs and take Britain to reclaim the greatness it truly deserves. So join me if you want to be part of this renewal, part of this family. Even if you've never participated in politics as a member of a political party, this is a great time to do it.

https://t.co/HW9cuVRsEC