THE Tory leadership race already feels like it’s been going on for eons, but strap in – yet another contender has said yet another silly thing.
It’s not like anything they say could come as a shock anymore, not after Kemi Badenoch suggested maternity pay was “excessive”, or when she praised Israel for “that amazing thing with the pagers”, which killed 37 people – including children – in Lebanon last month.
Or when Robert Jenrick said he hoped to revive the failed Rwanda plan, and then doubled down on his claim that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing terrorists”.
But we still gawked when we heard Jenrick (below) confide that one of his daughters is named after Margaret Thatcher.
Speaking to GB News’ Christopher Hope in front of party members at the Tory conference on Tuesday, Jenrick said he’d named his daughter after the Iron Lady because “he respects strong women”.
“I thought it was a good way of reminding her of a good prime minister,” he added.
READ MORE: 'Disgusting': Foreign Office panned over Lebanon evacuation efforts
Depends on your definition of good, but each to their own.
Rather ironically, his daughter was born in the same year that Thatcher died. What was he hoping would happen – that the spirit of the Milk Snatcher would be reincarnated in his own offspring?
The admission is unlikely to cost Jenrick any votes– an Ipsos poll from 2021 found that Thatcher ranks behind only Winston Churchill in Brits’ estimations of who was the best prime minister.
If that’s just one of his children’s middle names, we dread to think of what the others might be named after. Let’s hope not Boris or Liz.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here