Sir Iain Duncan Smith has revealed he has been advising the new Shadow Cabinet on how they can challenge the government and said he believes Kemi Badenoch has what it takes to win the next general election.

He also warned the government not to get into the habit of ‘banning things’.

Speaking on GB News Sir Iain Duncan-Smith said:

“I can still complain about [the proposal to ban smoking] – I wasn’t leader at the time. I think that the pub garden thing, I said at the time was utter nonsense, because it’s out in the open air.

“People will choose to be there or they won’t be there and I think fiddling and meddling with that was a nonsense.

“With regards to vaping, as I understand, there are some vapes that don’t emit what is very clear levels of steam and I’ve seen people using those. Some just puff it away to make the person feel better, as though they were really smoking, I’m sure.

“But I think when you get into banning things, there has to be some pretty clear evidence that there is harm and that is what the public think. So the public might go, I don’t want this stuff done in pubs, but we don’t really know what the view of the public is.

“So my view is, I would tread carefully, if I was the government. Yes, you can get into the bad habit of banning everything, if you like, but at the end of it all the public are the ones that pay the taxes, and they’re the ones that vote for us, and I think governments should just take account of what they think.”

Discussing the Shadow Cabinet, Iain Duncan-Smith said:

“I went there to address [the Shadow Cabinet] today, so there’s a start. I just said what opposition is like. You’ve got to remember, we’re a whole generation away from opposition now, and so most of the MPs that are in the cabinet have never, in fact, all of them have never experienced opposition.

“I went through 13 years of Labour government under Tony Blair, so I do know what being an opposition is like. And it’s a very hard, difficult task because you’ve got none of the resources government has, but at the same time, you’ve got to hold them to account.

“And I was just really chatting about that to them, to say there are plenty of devices you can use. And also, essentially, although we are in opposition, this is not the Blair government that I was opposed to. They started on 44% and went upwards afterwards. And they were running along at some 50% plus for some years after they got elected.

“This government only started at 33% in the poll, which is pretty low. In fact, I think it’s the lowest ever, and got this enormous result because of the way that ex Tory voters deserted us. And down they’ve gone to what is now level with us at 27%. So I have to say it’s a slightly different target.

“Opposition is tough, and it’s what you make of it. I called it The War of the Flea, which is you’re dealing with this Leviathan on the other side which has all the resources, all the money, all the civil service.

“You have very little, but what you do have is knowing to strike when you’re least expected to, and to get them into difficulty, to split the Labour Party at some point.

“It is essentially a form of [guerrilla warfare] because that’s what you want. That’s what the public want.

“They want to know that you’re on the front foot and holding them to account no matter what. They don’t get away with some of these flip decisions like banning this and banning that, or raising taxes. You’re going to be on the side of those who have to pick up the bill.

“I’ve been around a bit. I’ve seen lots of leaders of the opposition. I’ve seen the good ones that come through, I’ve seen the difficult times when you’ve got somebody like Blair in front of you.

“The truth is, you don’t pick a Leader of the Opposition as a Prime Minister. You pick them as a Leader of the Opposition. Look at Mrs. Thatcher. When she was picked most of the media I recall, they all said, Tories have taken a turn for the worst. She’s not electable.

“Three years later, she wins the general election. Why? Because she developed, she grew. She became that person that nobody could take their eyes off. I think Kemi has that within her.

“She’s strong and aggressive, and I think she’ll develop the judgement in terms of these things which matter and that’s what I want. I don’t want a Prime Minister now, I want a Leader of the Opposition.”