Badenoch must beware flirting with Trump’s national conservatism

Kemi Badenoch’s recent trip to North America seems to have gone well, but she should be wary of taking too much inspiration from Donald Trump and JD Vance, says Joseph Dinnage

It hardly evoked Beatlemania, but Kemi Badenoch’s recent North American jaunt seemed to go pretty well. During her trip, the Tory leader met with two of the men reshaping and re-energising the global Right: the US’s JD Vance and Canada’s Pierre Poilievre.

The meeting which got Badenoch the most coverage was with incoming US Vice President Vance. According to reports, Badenoch and Vance have enjoyed a cordial relationship for some time. Their rapport was on full display when Vance posted:

‘Great to see the leader of the UK conservatives during her trip to the US. We discussed many topics, but I was unable to persuade her that coffee is much better than tea. Cheers, Kemi!’

Very sweet, but what should we make of this? Well, it’s exactly the sort of thing Badenoch should be doing. 

In addition to keeping herself relevant among the global Right, it’s a good opportunity to talk shop and share good practice. Under Poilievre’s leadership, the Canadian Conservatives have increased their lead by 21 points in the polls while Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have fallen to their lowest ebb. Poilievre has even managed to get the young on board: 36 per cent of Canadians between 18 and 29 would support the Conservatives versus only 19 per cent for the Liberals. Impressive stuff. Given the Tories’ current polling with the under 30s, if Badenoch can get her party even close to this point, she will be remembered as one of the most effective politicians of the last century.

The Tories must also seize the diplomatic opportunity of her friendship with Vance. Donald Trump’s best pal in the UK is currently Nigel Farage, who has made six trips to the States since being elected as an MP in July. While Badenoch’s number may not appear in the President-elect’s rolodex yet, if she can convince MAGA-types that she is a serious player on the right, Trump will have a new UK ally and Reform will have lost a major political monopoly.

Make Great Britain great again?

So, there’s much to be learned and gained from a relationship with Kemi Badenoch’s North American counterparts. And if Trump’s alliance with Elon Musk and other tech titans successfully shrinks the state while prioritising innovation and economic dynamism, it will offer the UK’s Conservatives some much-needed inspiration. But not all MAGA strategies are to be copied. The last thing Badenoch should begin to adopt is the ideology which has helped propel Trump and Vance to victory: national conservatism. The NatCons’ emphasis on economic protectionism, anti-globalism and religious zealotry would not prove a recipe for success in the UK.

Take Trump’s plan to impose a 10-20 per cent tariff on all imported goods. According to the Tax Foundation, a trade war between the US and China could harm American growth and cost US consumers dearly. This is all well and good in a Herculean economy like the US’s which can more easily absorb these costs, but for the UK, embracing such a policy would be catastrophic.

Given Badenoch’s stint as business secretary, the chances of her entertaining tariffs are slim. As she outlined in a speech she delivered in DC, she believes in: “Classical liberal values… free markets, free speech, free enterprise”. This is the formula she must stick to. It was market liberalisation that brought Britain back from economic disaster in the late-1970s and it is what will fix our problems now.

As much of the right flirts with Trumpian policy agendas, Kemi Badenoch cannot be blown off course. The Tories can achieve great things, including by working with the global centre-right, but success for Britain can only be delivered by adhering to the economic values which have been proven to make us – and Americans – more prosperous.

Joseph Dinnage is deputy editor of CapX