Electoral Dysfunction: Why Tories need to get used to opposition quickly – and the ‘surprise’ in the leadership contest
Former Tory MP Ruth Davidson said she was surprised by early results in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader.
Priti Patel was eliminated from the contest on Wednesday, with Robert Jenrick emerging as frontrunner with 28 votes in the first ballot of MPs, ahead of bookmakers’ favourite Kemi Badenoch, who got 22.
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly was one vote behind on 21, with shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat on 17 and shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride on 16.
Speaking on the Sky News Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Davidson said she thought Mr Stride would be the first to drop out.
“I was surprised. I think we’d all sort of thought that Mel Stride would be the first to go. So, apologies to Mel, we got that one wrong,” she said.
“He’s obviously got a bit more support within the parliamentary party than we expected. I think what was interesting about Priti is she had, I think, wanted to be kind of the vote of the right, but also the Borisites within the party.
“And Boris was a dog that didn’t bark in the first round of the election. Quite clearly you could see his hand in the last one between Rishi and Liz Truss, being on Liz’s side.
“So that was quite interesting to me.”
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Whoever does win will need to get used to opposition “quickly”, added Ms Davidson, who was in opposition in Scotland.
“I think for somebody that spent their entire political life in opposition, you know, the bit of advice that I would give to any of them is get your head around the change from government to opposition and do it quickly because you are going to have to hustle,” she said.
“People are not going to want to cover you. You know, the government’s got the levers. It’s pulling them. It will speak to them. You are going to have to work your socks off to even get in the papers.”
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Don’t forget, you can see Electoral Dysfunction live when it goes out on tour in September.
You can get your tickets by clicking here and the dates for the shows are below:
• London – Thursday 12th, Bloomsbury Theatre
• Salford – Monday 16th, Lowry Quays
• Liverpool – Sunday 22nd, St George’s Hall
• Glasgow – Thursday 26th, The Glee Club
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has dismayed green Conservatives by declaring the UK’s target to reach net zero by 2050 “impossible”.
In a speech on Tuesday, the Conservative Party leader is expected to tell what she says is the “unvarnished truth” that the net zero goal cannot be achieved without “a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”.
Ms Badenoch will say she is not making a “moral judgement” on net zero or debating whether climate change exists.
But, as she begins to renew party policy, she will say that current climate policies are “largely failing” to improve nature and “driving up the cost of energy”.
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Net zero means cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, which cause climate change, to virtually zero, and absorbing the rest elsewhere.
Scientists say the world must reach that point by 2050 to avoid even worse flooding, wildfires, and other damage – but that action is lagging behind.
The UK has already cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half.
The next half is expected to be more challenging as it requires changes to people’s heating, cars and diet – things that often need upfront costs, but could save people money in the long run with the right government support, advisers have said.
Ms Badenoch’s plans take the Conservative Party to its most sceptical position on net zero yet – a target set in law by Tory Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019.
And it comes at a time when Reform UK is questioning climate science and US President Donald Trump, leader of the second most polluting country in the world, is dismantling nature protections.
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Kemi Badenoch heckled by climate protesters on Monday
Ms Badenoch’s “policy renewal” she is outlining on Tuesday will see shadow cabinet members set core priority questions as a move towards formulating new policy for the party.
Sam Hall, of the Conservative Environment Network of 50 MPs, said it was “a mistake” for Ms Badenoch to have “jumped the gun on her own policy review and decided net zero isn’t possible by 2050”.
He said the Tory leader was right to question Labour’s climate plans, but that the target is driven “not by optimism but by scientific reality; without it climate change impacts and costs will continue to worsen”.
Abandoning the science would risk losing voter’s support, he added.
Four in five Conservative voters in last year’s general election and two thirds of Reform voters thought it was important that the government cared about tackling climate change, according to polling by More in Common.
Shaun Spiers, executive director of thinktank Green Alliance, called it “disappointing” to see Ms Badenoch “turn her back on cleaner, cheaper, homegrown energy”.
“It is even more disappointing to see the leader of the opposition take cues from climate deniers across the pond,” he added, in a veiled swipe at President Trump.
“Net zero is not ‘nice-to-have’, it’s an achievable, evidence-based target designed to protect the UK from the worst impacts of climate change.”
The UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises governments on how to reach net zero, said last month the goal is “ambitious” but “deliverable”.
But it also warned as Labour took office last summer that, at that time, just one third of the cuts to greenhouse gases needed to reach an interim 2030 target were covered by a “credible plan”.
Asset manager Hashdex has amended its S-1 regulatory filing for its cryptocurrency index exchange-traded fund (ETF) to include seven altcoins in addition to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), according to a March 14 filing.
The revision proposes adding seven specific altcoins to the index ETF — Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), and Uniswap (UNI). As of March 17, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF holds only Bitcoin and Ether.
Previous versions of Hashdex’s S-1 suggested the possibility of adding other cryptocurrencies in the future but didn’t specify which ones.
According to the filing, the proposed altcoins additions “are decentralized peer-to-peer computer systems that rely on public key cryptography for security, and their values are primarily influenced by market supply and demand.”
The revised filing signals how ETF issuers are accelerating planned crypto product rollouts now that US President Donald Trump has instructed federal regulators to take a more lenient stance on digital asset regulation.
As part of the transition, the ETF plans to switch its reference index from the Nasdaq Crypto US Index — which only tracks BTC and ETH — to the more comprehensive Nasdaq Crypto Index, the filing said.
The asset manager did not specify when it plans to make the change. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must sign off on the proposed changes before they can take effect.
Hashdex plans to add seven altcoins to its index ETF. Source: SEC
Related: US crypto index ETFs off to slow start in first days since listing
Accelerating approvals
In December, the SEC gave the green light to both Hashdex and Franklin Templeton’s respective Bitcoin and Ether index ETFs.
Both ETFs were listed in February, initially drawing relatively modest inflows, data shows. They are the first US ETFs aiming to offer investors a one-stop-shop diversified crypto index.
Asset manager Grayscale has also applied to convert its Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund to an ETF. Created in 2018, the fund holds a crypto index portfolio comprising BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP, among others.
Industry analysts say crypto index ETFs are the next big focus for issuers after ETFs holding BTC and ETH listed in January and July, respectively.
“The next logical step is index ETFs because indices are efficient for investors — just like how people buy the S&P 500 in an ETF. This will be the same in crypto,” Katalin Tischhauser, head of investment research at crypto bank Sygnum, told Cointelegraph in August.
In February, the SEC acknowledged more than a dozen exchange filings related to cryptocurrency ETFs, according to records.
The filings, submitted by Cboe and other exchanges, addressed proposed rule changes concerning staking, options, in-kind redemptions and new types of altcoin funds.
Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime
The newly reintroduced Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act of 2025 by Senator Cynthia Lummis would allow the United States to potentially hold over 1 million Bitcoin (BTC) in its crypto reserves.
The bill directs the government to buy 200,000 BTC annually over five years, to be paid for with existing funds within the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.
If signed into law, the act would allow the US to hold more than 1 million BTC as long as the assets are acquired through lawful means other than direct purchases, including criminal or civil forfeitures, gifts, or transfers from federal agencies.
Democratic lawmaker urges Treasury to cease Trump’s Bitcoin reserve plans
US Representative Gerald Connolly, a Democrat from Michigan, called on the Treasury to cease its efforts to create a crypto reserve in the United States. The lawmaker said there were conflicts of interest with US President Donald Trump and argued that the reserve would not benefit Americans.
Connolly criticized the reserve in a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing that there’s no “discernible benefit” to Americans and that the move would instead make Trump and his donors richer.
Argentine lawyer requests Interpol red notice for LIBRA creator: Report
Argentine lawyer Gregorio Dalbon is seeking an Interpol Red Notice for Hayden Davis, the co-creator of the LIBRA token, which caused a political scandal in Argentina.
Dalbon submitted a request, seeking the Red Notice, to prosecutor Eduardo Taiano and judge María Servini, who are investigating the involvement of President Javier Milei in the memecoin project.
In a filing, the lawyer said there’s a procedural risk if Davis remains free. The lawyer argued that Davis could have access to funds that might allow him to go into hiding or flee to the US.
America must back pro-stablecoin laws, reject CBDCs — US Rep. Emmer
In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, US Representative Tom Emmer said that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) threaten American values. The lawmaker called on Congress to pass his CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to block future administrations from launching a CBDC without congressional approval.
Emmer said at the hearing that CBDC technology is “inherently un-American,” adding that allowing unelected bureaucrats to issue a CBDC could “upend the American way of life.”
Texas lawmaker seeks to cap state’s proposed BTC purchases at $250 million
Ron Reynolds, a Democratic state representative in Texas, has proposed a cap for the state’s investment in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
The lawmaker proposed in a bill that the state’s comptroller should not be allowed to invest more than $250 million in crypto. The bill also directs Texas municipalities or counties to not invest more than $10 million in crypto.
The proposed bill follows the Texas Senate’s approval of legislation establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the state.
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