Kemi Badenoch called for winter fuel payments for old people to be means-tested, newly-unearthed footage has revealed.

The frontrunner to be the next Tory leader has joined the criticism of the Labour government’s decision to take the payments off all but the very poorest pensioners.

But the Daily Telegraph reported that during the 2022 Tory leadership race, in which Badenoch also ran, she told reporters that it was wrong to give the benefit – worth up to £300 – to every pensioner in the country.

She said: “There is a lot of dead weight in how we run government. I have people in my constituency telling me that they don’t need the winter fuel payments that we give them because they can afford it. Why do we not have a more sophisticated mechanism for means-testing?”

A source in a rival camp said: “This is terrible. Labour’s decision to cut the winter fuel payment was our one effective attack on them. They’ll seize on these comments.”

A spokesman for Badenoch said: “Kemi was referring to a conversation she’d had with a millionaire who lives in her constituency, who told her he gives his winter fuel payment to charity.

“Kemi believes that is a waste of taxpayers’ money and the state should be able to do better. In contrast, the Labour government is taking winter fuel payments away from people who need them, which is completely wrong and Kemi will continue to oppose their approach.”