Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives are “a very different party from the one that was removed from government in 2024”, after it emerged that former minister Sir Grant Shapps was blocked as a candidate for Parliament.
Shapps held a string of Cabinet positions under four Tory prime ministers – energy security and net zero secretary, transport secretary, home secretary and business secretary – and most recently served as a defence minister under Rishi Sunak.
He also co-chaired the party ahead of its 2010 election victory.
The former MP lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat to Labour’s Andrew Lewin in the Tories’ general election mauling in 2024.
Shapps failed Badenoch’s new selection process to become a prospective candidate, the Press Association understands.
The Tory leader declined to comment on his rejection, first reported by The Spectator, when asked about it at a central London press conference.
She told reporters on Thursday: “You wouldn’t expect me to be commenting on anybody’s application for candidates and to be speculating about rumours.
“What I will say right now is that the Conservative Party is a serious party.
“We don’t treat our former MPs or our candidates like tittle-tattle for Westminster gossip.
“We treat people better than that. I’m not confirming any kind of thing that’s in The Spectator.
“What I will say is that we’re going to be announcing candidates shortly, and you will see that this is a very different party from the one that was removed from government in 2024.
“We have got a plan and everyone is focused on delivering for the country.”
Earlier this month, Badenoch suggested party members who either backed net zero targets or who opposed the UK leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were “not serious” and no longer welcome.
Shapps, who was knighted in Sunak’s resignation honours list, is thought not to disagree with either policy approach.
Badenoch wrote in The Telegraph that some of those who applied to join the next generation of Conservative candidates, “including former MPs, will start to receive a decision and they will be unhappy at not passing the test that will let them stand for the party at the next election”.
“No doubt some people will be disappointed,” she went on.
"They will go to the papers and complain on their WhatsApp groups about being stitched-up. Some may brief journalists. Some will defect to Reform or the Liberal Democrats. So be it.”
Claims Badenoch was purging prominent centrists also intensified after Lord Barwell, who served in Theresa May’s administration, lost the Tory whip over his repeated criticisms of the party leader.
It is understood that some people in the Conservatives believe Badenoch is seeking to prevent future leadership challenges.
Shapps has declined to comment.
To get more Politics news, click here to sign up for our free politics newsletter.