Alastair Campbell issues smug 4-word verdict after James Cleverly's shock elimination

Alastair Campbell has wasted little time in reacting to James Cleverly’s shock elimination from the Conservative leadership race.

Tony Blair’s former Communications Director reacted to the news that either Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick would be the next Leader of the Opposition with a short post on X that indicated his delight at the development.

Cambell said: “Cleverly out. Labour gain.”

The host of the popular podcast ‘The Rest is Politics’ has said previously that Cleverly was one of the more credible of the six original candidates, whilst he has been less than enthused about Badenoch or Jenrick.

This month, Campbell has shared posts critical of both the final candidates on his X account, which boasts over a million followers.

Last week, he shared a clip which described Jenrick’s video arguing against continued membership of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as “absurd, inflammatory, divisive & complete & utter bull****.”

Days later, he reposted a mocking post over Badenoch’s claims that 5-10 percent of the civil service should be put in prison. This would equate to 25,000 to 50,000 people.

The post by political scientist Tim Bale summarised the two remaining candidates saying: “So, just to be clear: we've got one Tory leadership candidate who thinks British soldiers are murderers and one who thinks that British civil servants are criminals?”

For many, former Home Secretary James Cleverly was seen as the most centrist candidate and one who Campbell believed was the most capable of threatening Labour’s so-called supermajority.

Max Kendrix, political reporter at The Times, wrote on X following the latest elimination round: "Several Labour MPs admitting James Cleverly was the contender they feared the most. One writes in: 'Wow. Do all Labour MPs have to declare this as a gift?'

The Conservative leadership race in the wake of their election defeat has seen the party grapple with the strategy for its recovery.

Whilst some hoped the party would return closer to the centre ground, in an attempt to reclaim votes lost to the Liberal Democrats and Labour, others have pushed for the party to lurch further rightwards, in pursuit of voters lost to Reform.

In the selection of Jenrick and Badenoch, seen by many as two of the more right-wing candidates, MPs have voted to challenge for support lost to Nigel Farage’s start-up movement.