The Conservative leader appeared on the programme with Ed Balls and Susanna Reid.
Kemi Badenoch appeared on Good Morning Britain (Image: ITV)
Susanna Reid was shut down by Kemi Badenoch during a tense exchange on Good Morning Britain. The Conservative leader appeared on the programme on Monday (January 26), days after declaring that her party would also seek to ban smartphones in schools if it won the next election. But the conversation quickly turned to Robert Jenrick’s recent defection to Reform UK. Ed Balls recognised that Jenrick has been heavily criticising the Conservative Party since his defection, including slamming Mel Stride for overseeing the explosion of the welfare bill and Priti Patel for creating the migration system that has enabled five million migrants to enter the UK.
Badenock pointed out that Jenrick was in Cabinet longer than Stride, describing his criticism of former colleagues as “extrordinary”. She blasted: “He’s not my problem anymore. He’s Nigel Farage‘s problem.” Badenoch later said: “We made mistakes. We lost the election. What we need to do is acknowledge the mistakes and come up with a better plan.”
Badenoch hit out at Susanna Reid for misquoting her (Image: ITV)
She claimed that Jenrick is attempting to lay the blame on others, declaring: “This is someone who stood to be leader of the Party and lost to me. I don’t think it is credible that you say to people, ‘We can do this. Put me in charge,” and then the minute they don’t, say, ‘I never liked any of you anyway. I’m off.’
“I don’t think that is credible at all.”
Issuing a dig at the politician, Reid remarked: “You said, after his defection, or maybe it was Nadhim Zahawi’s defection, or maybe it was Andrew Rosindell’s defection, that you were one hundred per cent sure there would be no more defections.”
Immediately shutting the presenter down, Badenoch clarified: “That’s not what I said.”
Reid could only nod and smile as Badenoch added: “I said from the Shadow Cabinet. And there haven’t been and there won’t be from the Shadow Cabinet.”
The ITV host highlighted that Rosindell was a Shadow Minister, prompting Badenoch to add: “Yes. But he was not in the Shadow Cabinet.”
A fresh bias row erupted as Ed Balls interviewed Labour politician Douglas Alexander (Image: ITV)
Shortly after the interview had concluded, the presenters were joined by Secretary of State for Scotland Douglas Alexander. The Scottish politician was pressed on a number of issues, from Andy Burnham being blocked in his bid to become an MP to Keir Starmer‘s declining popularity in the polls.
But it was Balls that faced heavy backlash from viewers, with many unable to let it slide that he was questioning a Labour politician while married to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
One fumed: “Ed Balls listening to Susanna Reid slagging Starmer off ffs, he’s married to Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary FFS, he shouldn’t even be allowed to co-host #GMB, he only got the job cos he’s privileged.”
Another echoed: “Instead of having the Labour Party front bench on, simply turn to your left and ask the man beside you. His wife is literally as close to these stories as anyone could be and he’ll know the answers. #GMB.”
Another weighed in: “Another laughable interview by dancing balls interviewing a friend and a former colleague ridiculous.”
