She may have the X factor, but why would Kemi Badenoch want to lead her party to defeat?

The business secretary has precisely no designs on the top job – at least not this side of a general election, writes John Rentoul. It is almost as if the plotters putting her name forward to replace Rishi Sunak don’t have her best interests at heart…

Unity candidate in waiting: Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary (Liam McBurney/PA)

The latest twist in the plot to get rid of Rishi Sunak is that Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, would be drafted to use her “X factor” to promote the rebels’ platform and lead the Conservatives into the election.

Given that Badenoch has made her views clear – that the party should unite behind Sunak, and that anyone promoting her as an alternative leader before the election is “no friend of mine” – you do have to wonder about the tactical skill of the plotters.

“Kemi has the X factor, she has the capacity to cut through and communicate,” one MP who is “familiar with the rebels’ thinking” told The Times. “She can carry off the policy platform that’s being drawn up.”