Kemi Badenoch pledges a 'very different' approach to Scotland and says she is not afraid to expose SNP failings

When she brought her Tory leadership campaign to Glasgow at the weekend, Kemi Badenoch was keen to emphasise her strong track record in standing up to the SNP. ‘They don’t really have any new or good ideas, they are not competitive on tax – which is one of the advantages you could have with the Scottish Government doing things differently and in a more competitive way compared to the rest of the United Kingdom – and they have not done that.’ In the final stages of the campaign she has won the support of Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton – a key ally in the fight against the SNP’s gender reforms – and former chief whip Stephen Kerr, plus fellow MSPs Murdo Fraser and Tess White. ‘I never believe polls,’ she said after making a plea to Scottish Conservative members at the Glasgow Grosvenor Hotel in the city’s West End. They discussed the upcoming legal case against Scottish ministers at the Supreme Court next month about the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act 2018, which challenges the Scottish Government guidance which claims that a ‘woman’ includes a person with a gender recognition certificate which states their acquired gender is female. ‘I don’t think the SNP has been picking the best people and that is how they ended up getting into a mess over this policy.’ The Scottish Government’s gender reforms proposed removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria for those applying for a gender recognition certificate and lowered the minimum age from 18 to 16.