Chris Philp has declared he is "absolutely" a "Kemi Badenoch fan" as he offered his support for the Tory leadership hopeful during the party's annual conference.
Battling against James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat to replace Rishi Sunak as the party leader, Kemi Badenoch has told the conference in her keynote speech that Labour is "trashing" Tory principles, and vowed to "clean up their mess" at the next election.
She said: "These are our principles that Labour is trashing, so I haven't heard them say anything that is good. The Angela Rayner that I stand opposite has no clue what she's doing, and we're going to have to pick up the mess she makes."
Speaking to GB News, Philp claimed the final remaining female candidate in the race has the "star quality" and "political charisma" to take the Tory fight to Labour ahead of the next election.
Chris Philp has claimed that Badenoch could 'follow in Thatcher's footsteps' as Tory leader
GB News / PA
Philp told host Andrew Pierce: "I think she has that sort of undefined quality, the X factor, star quality, political charisma, which I think we need in our new leader to help us take the fight to Labour when we have a new leader in place.
"I am absolutely a Kemi Badenoch fan and I think she has all of that."
Comparing Badenoch to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons added: "Besides, of course, authentic Conservative views, I think she has the potential to follow in Margaret Thatcher's footsteps, and those are the reasons why I am backing her."
Hitting back at Philp, Andrew argued that it is "dangerous" to compare another female candidate to Thatcher, highlighting that both Theresa May and Liz Truss "did not compare" to Thatcher's legacy.
Kemi Badenoch has said that we 'need someone not afraid' to lead the Conservatives
GB NewsPhilp partly agreed but stood firm on his support for Badenoch, telling GB News: "I wouldn't compare them to Thatcher, but I think Kemi is different.
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"As I said, she has that star quality that I think we need to take the fight to Labour, and they've done such a bad job in government in the last 80 or so days."
Warning of a "10 year Labour government" if the Tories fail to choose a strong enough leader, Philp continued: "It is more important than ever that we choose a leader who can beat them in five years' time.
"Because if we fail in that mission, it won't be a five-year Labour government, it'll be a 10-year Labour government. I think Kemi is best placed to win."
When pressed on Badenoch's comments about maternity pay being "too high", Philp claimed that her remarks were "reasonable", and stressed she has "no plans to change maternity pay" as party leader.
Chris Philp told GB News that Badenoch has the 'star quality' to lead the Conservatives in opposition against Labour
GB News
Philp explained: "I think she's been clear she's not going to be making any changes to maternity pay. The point she was making was a broader point, which is reasonable, about overregulation of businesses, big and small.
"Over the decades, regulations have built up. Look at any individual regulation, you might think it makes sense, but the cumulative effect is that small businesses and large businesses are unable to be competitive.
"And we do need to be internationally competitive against places like Singapore and South Korea, and that is what Kemi is going to look at in opposition."