She longs to distance herself from Boris, Liz and Rishi – but it’s as if she has given up already

You can only step back and applaud. The audacity. The vision. Never before has political nihilism been so wholeheartedly embraced. This was mainlined futility. Well, through any normal looking-glass. A new genre of postmodernism that would have left Derrida and Deleuze breathless and baffled. Four minutes and 40 seconds of YouTube video that will have had Conservative supporters reaching for the fentanyl.

The received wisdom of party political broadcasts is that they must have a purpose. A message that is easily understood. Generally a simple story of why opponents have got it wrong and why – and how – you will put things right. It’s not complicated. It’s not sophisticated. Just PR 101. Political Ronseal. Only for Kemi Badenoch’s first broadcast as Conservative leader, which was released overnight, she chose to break with all convention. What followed was more a career suicide note than a message of hope. Even her fans were in despair.