MMY candid friend Kemi Badenoch made everyone listen.
Her intelligence, conviction, toughness and desire to equate with the British public that the state cannot solve all our problems attracts attention, and not surprisingly.
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People have had enough of the same old cheap slogans and consensus statism.
Kemi offers our party the best opportunity to innovate and provide a fresh vision to voters and the country from within the government.
The fact that we have to face is that we have now been in government for 12 years, and while there has been a lot of positive progress in that time that we can be proud of, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Voters will rightly ask themselves in the next election: am I better off now than five years ago? For too many, the answer will be no.
Of course, this is not only due to factors that are within our control. A global pandemic and Putin’s war in Ukraine have all played a serious role in this.
But in the end, we will still need to be able to communicate to voters in the next election that we are the ones with the plan to turn the tide.
I believe in Kemi because she has the right diagnoses of the problems and the right solutions for them.
She understands that the consensus of the past decade that a larger state is the answer to our problems, that Whitehall management is the best form of government, and that economic growth is a secondary concern at best, has much to justify.
Kemi knows we could do so much better when it comes to driving growth and improving the quality of life for all our citizens because she believes in Britain.
She sees the good inherent in our nation and its shared institutions, and she wants to unleash that potential. She is a proud defender of our country, our culture and our values.
Freedom of speech, democracy, justice and the rule of law will always have to be vigorously defended by conservatives – at home and abroad.
As a former soldier who attended Sandhurst and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and as Secretary of Defense, I am well aware of the dangers we, and our allies who share our values, face abroad.
The Russian aggression in Ukraine is just one example of what can happen if defenders of liberalism and justice don’t make themselves heard – and felt – in the international arena.
But this is not easily done. To face these challenges abroad with the strength and will they require, we must first overcome obstacles closer to home.
That means making a strong and convincing case for Britain’s role in the world. Too many people would shrink us behind our borders, preferring instead to spend resources on our own people.
But as we’ve seen over the past six months, we live in a globalized world and our domestic lives are extremely vulnerable to disruptions in faraway places as supply chains are cut and business confidence is threatened. Putin has a lot to answer for with the cost of living.
We can be extremely proud of the response of our government and prime minister to the crisis in Ukraine. We have shown the same international leadership and the same stubbornness in the face of the tyranny that has made the UK a great country throughout history.
We paid for the idea of being isolated and powerless post-Brexit by leading the European response to support Ukraine and stand up to illiberal tyrants. But we can’t just take that and back off now.
Not only must we remain Ukraine’s staunch allies in their ongoing struggle, we must also remain ready and of resources to support others when the next crisis arises.
I know Kemi Badenoch is the right person to take on this mantle. She, like me, believes in the good the UK can do on the world stage. She understands that our values of tolerance and self-determination are worth defending, and that if we fail, the consequences will be felt close to home.
I know she has the courage, the drive and the ability to defend that cause in front of the domestic opponents as well as to put the best foot forward for the UK abroad.
She would be able and willing to oppose any tyrant, dictator or busybody to defend our allies to protect freedom and democracy.
We need a prime minister who understands what it means to be conservative. Kemi understands that the state cannot be the solution to all our problems at home, and that Whitehall must withdraw from the daily lives of our people.
But she also knows that to truly protect our people and our values, the UK must maintain its historic role as a global defender of peace, justice and freedom.
We and our allies can be safe in the knowledge that Kemi will always support us.