Penny Mordaunt has finally been allowed on the Tory candidates list — but at what cost?

There will be much rejoicing among Tory liberals that Dame Penny Mordaunt has finally been added back on to the candidates’ list for the party.

But at what cost?

Dame Penny has become the latest “wet” to apparently bow to demands from party leader Kemi Badenoch that she signs up to distinctly rightwing non-centrist policies like ditching support for net zero and agreeing the UK should withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

As the late great Groucho Marx once put it: “Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."

Explaining her reasoning on Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday morning political show for the BBC, Dame Penny said: “The nation will pleased to know I have passed my assessment with the candidates board.

“I would love to be back on the squad and if I am not selected I will be in the stands cheering on the team and volunteering to chop the oranges at half time.”

Pressed by Ms Kuenssberg on if she had changed her position, Ms Mordaunt said diplomatically: “I am very happy with the party position as it is on all those issues. I’ve always toed the party line. I think Kemi is right to require her potential MPs to say that they will deliver the manifesto we stand on.”

The Independent’s editor in chief Geordie Greig, who was on the panel with Ms Mordaunt, interjected: “You are being brought back into the fold. It is a change and Laura is asking this question for a reason. It appears to be a softening on their position to exclude certain types of Tories.”

But under further questions, an uncomfortable Dame Penny said: “Have I agreed 100 per cent with every policy there has been? No I haven’t. That is what collective responsibility is about.

“I am very happy with the policy position as it is and I think we have tried a lot of things to deal with some of the big issues that are facing this country. And now things like leaving the ECHR are the only course of action.”

She is not alone. When The Independent interviewed former foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly – who was also a past supporter of net zero and the ECHR – on whether he had changed his views now he wanted to be the party’s candidate for London mayor, he claimed events had changed them for him.

On net zero, he said: “The economic outlook has changed dramatically. We've got situations now because of conflict in the Middle East. We've got energy prices which are being pushed up and up and up and up and up. Now, under those circumstances, it seems crazy, absolutely crazy, to say we are not going to make use of our own hydrocarbon reserves, even though global prices are going up because we set a completely arbitrary date, self-imposed arbitrary date. That is not sensible economics.”

Then on the ECHR – a dividing line when he attempted to become Tory leader in 2024 and lost to Ms Badenoch – he has also performed a U-turn.

“I'll be honest with you. I have had some very robust conversations with the judiciary about what I feel is their complete lack of understanding of the social impact of some of the decisions they made around immigration. People who clearly have no legitimate right to be in the UK, given indefinite leave to remain by the immigration tribunal judges.

“And the point is, quite legitimately, elected politicians are held accountable for those decisions – and therefore elected politicians should be in control of those decisions.

“I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but the conversations that I've had have made it clear that we do need to do something significant. And I think Lord Wolfston's report, very, very, very well thought through, explaining what we would need to do – how we would make sure we protect the vulnerable, whilst also actually being able to make proper decisions in terms of border control – I think it is very thoughtful. So as I say, I would prefer that it hadn't come to this, but it has come to this.”

The real question though is whether Dame Penny and Sir James would hold these changed views if the party leader thought the opposite.

As Ms Badenoch puts it: “It’s my party and I decide the policy.”

And there is a long history of ambitious Tories saying what they need to say to become candidates without necessarily believing it.

The Independent was told of a selection meeting ahead of the 1997 election for a safe Tory seat with a shortlist of three. It involved two people who would eventually become very senior cabinet members and a third who never got selected. The third was told by the constituency chairman that he had given the best speech but “you were far too honest.”

It turned out that the membership wanted a candidate who believed in the death penalty and leaving the EU. The third had said he did not support either.

Both the future cabinet ministers said they strongly supported both and one of them was selected for that seat and another got an equally safe seat soon after. Both would go on to vote against the death penalty and support Remain in the 2016 election.

So while Sir James and Dame Penny may well be sincere in their changes of heart, there are many in the party who will suspect they are saying what is necessary to stay in the game – for now.