She received the support of 53,806 Tory members, compared to Jenrick’s 41,388 – a winning margin of more than 12,000 votes.
Her win marks the end of the prolonged four-month race to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the opposition.
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She also becomes the first black leader of a major British political party.
Badenoch served as the business and trade secretary in the last government and has been the shadow housing secretary since the Tories were kicked out of Downing Street.
She said the “huge job” ahead involves “the people we want to bring back to the Conservative Party”.
Badenoch said: “This is not just about the Conservative Party, it is about the people we want to bring back to the Conservative Party, it is about the people we need to bring into the Conservative Party.
“It is about what the Conservative Party needs to be over the next five, 10 and 20 years.
“Our party is critical to the success of our country, but to be heard we have to be honest – honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.
“The time has come to tell the truth. The time has come to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party, and our country, the new start that they deserve.
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“It is time to get down to business, it is time to renew.”
The MP for North West Essex previously raised eyebrows by claiming she is “very, very wary” of saying she wants to become the next prime minister because the job “changes your life forever”.
Badenoch has also faced criticism for several controversies throughout her leadership campaign.
She bizarrely claimed that she had become working class at 16 after getting a job at McDonald’s.
On another occasion, Badenoch suggested not all “cultures are equally valid”.
During the Conservative conference, she also appeared to say that maternity pay is “excessive” before being forced to insist she meant the burden of regulation on business.
Badenoch is expected to start assembling her shadow cabinet straight away, but it will not include former leadership candidate James Cleverly, who said he would be returning to the backbenches.
Former ministers Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride and Priti Patel were all kicked out earlier in the contest having failed to secure enough votes from fellow Conservative MPs.
Tory chairman Richard Fuller said: “On behalf of the whole Conservative Party I’d like to congratulate Kemi Badenoch on being elected as our new leader.
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“Over the course of the leadership contest we have seen six strong, credible candidates who have spent their time travelling around the country meeting our excellent party members.
“I would like to thank all the candidates for their conduct and commitment during the leadership contest and the team at CCHQ for their hard work throughout.
“With Kemi Badenoch in place as our new leader now is the time for the whole Party to unite and take the fight to Labour, the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Reform.”
Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick just claimed his rival Kemi Badenoch made a “mistake” when she criticised him – only to then hit out at her, too.
Jenrick and Badenoch are the only two candidates left in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader.
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Tory members have to cast their votes by the end of this month and the official winner will be announced on November 2.
On Sunday, Badenoch took a swipe at Jenrick by telling The Telegraph: “Integrity matters … with me you’d have a leader where there’s no scandal. I was never sacked for anything, I didn’t have to resign in disgrace or, you know, because there was a whiff of impropriety.”
This is presumably a reference to Jenrick’s involvement in a 2020 planning dispute when he was housing secretary under Boris Johnson, a role which he was later sacked from in a reshuffle.
Speaking to Times Radio on Monday morning, Jenrick criticised Badenoch for speaking “ill” of her rival.
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“I think it was a mistake by Kemi,” he said, alleging he thinks Tory members are “sick of the drama”.
He continued: “They want to end all these excuses. They want to stop the squabbling and the backbiting. They want the party to unite and to be a team. That is what I want to do.”
He added: “So I am not going to speak ill of fellow Conservatives. I think if we do that, that will be the end of the Conservative Party.”
But Jenrick then decided to dish out an insult of his own, adding: “If my rival, you know, starts to deal with personal insults, that is because she doesn’t really have any policies to talk about.
“And I want to be talking about policies. That is what this debate should be about.”
The former minister then said: “Let’s not go down the rabbit hole of drama and infighting. We’ve had way too much, that’s not my way, that’s not how I would conduct myself if I’m leader of the party.”
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He claimed ultimately they are “grown ups,” and recalled how the Conservative Party is “the world’s oldest political party”.
He said: “Hitherto, it’s most successful. It is not a Twitter account.”
The Tories suffered a noteworthy defeat in July’s general election, losing the highest number of seats of any UK party in history (251), meaning they now have just 121 representatives in parliament.
The very drawn-out Conservative Party leadership contest is almost over – but who will be the victor?
The party members have until October 31 to cast their votes, and, having stayed on as a rather reticent caretaker leader for almost four months, Rishi Sunak will finally be able to hand over the reins of the party on November 2.
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Former home secretary James Cleverly, perceived as a moderate within the party, was unexpectedly ousted in the last round of the MPs’ ballots earlier this month.
The final two candidates are now right-wing, former ministers, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, both of whom are known for regularly causing a stir.
So, as a new era looms for the beleaguered Conservative Party, here’s a look at the most eye-catching moments from the last leadership hopefuls standing during a rather chaotic contest…
Kemi Badenoch
1. Her row with David Tennant
Badenoch launched her leadership bid by reminding Tory members how actor David Tennant had called for her to “shut up” over her belief on the trans community earlier this year.
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In a video promoting her plan to lead the Conservatives, Badenoch said: “No, I will not shut up.
“When you have that kind of cultural establishment trying to keep Conservatives down, you need someone like me, who is not afraid of Doctor Who or whoever, and who is going to take the fight to them and not let them try and keep us down.
“That’s not going to happen with me.”
2. Claiming maternity pay is “excessive”
The Tory leadership hopeful sparked a row at the Conservative Party conference when she told Times Radio: “Maternity pay varies depending on who you work for, but it is a function, where it’s statutory maternity pay. It is a function of tax.
“Tax comes from people who are working. We’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This in my view is excessive.”
She later had to issue a “clarification” saying she was actually talking about “the burden of regulation on businesses”.
3. Alleging people are “too scared” to start businesses
Badenoch doubled down on her concerns over business during the conference.
At a fringe event, recalling how a constituent explained she had to close her business because she could not afford wages or maternity pay, Badenoch claimed: “We are overburdening businesses.
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“We are overburdening them with regulation, with tax. People aren’t starting businesses any more because they’re too scared.”
4. Suggesting young Tories get marked down at university because of politics
While at the conference, Badenoch said “socialism” has returned to the UK now Labour are in power.
She said young Conservatives are now “afraid to share their politics with other students, because they will be attacked, that they are marked down by lecturers because of their beliefs”.
5. Claiming a tenth of civil servants should be “in prison”
Again, while speaking to the party faithful, Badenoch said 10% of civil servants are “absolutely magnificent”.
But she added: “There’s about 5 to 10% of them who are very, very bad – you know, should be in prison bad – leaking official secrets, undermining their ministers, agitating – I have some of it in my department – usually union led.”
The audience laughed after she spoke, suggesting it may have been a joke.
6. Suggesting not all “cultures are equally valid”
Badenoch wrote an article for the Sunday Telegraph saying “we cannot be naive and assume […] all cultures are equally valid” as “they are not”.
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She added: “I am struck, for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel.”
7. Huge fan of Elon Musk
Badenoch revealed she is a supporter of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
She said: “I think Elon Musk has been a fantastic thing for freedom of speech. I will hold my hand up and say, I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk.”
Her comments came weeks after the X CEO suggested “civil war was inevitable” in the UK during the far-right riots and repeated the right-wing conspiracy theory of two-tier policing.
8. A controversial take on class
Speaking on Christopher Hope’s Political Podcast, Badenoch claimed: “I grew up in a middle class family, but I became working class when I was 16, working in McDonald’s.”
9. “I don’t make gaffes”
Shortly after that remark about class, Badenoch told the podcast: “I never have gaffes, or apologising for something that I said, [saying] ‘oh that’s not what I meant,’ I never have to clarify, because I think very carefully about what I say.”
10. Endorsing a pamphlet “stigmatising” autism
Badenoch wrote the foreword for the ‘Conservatism in Crisis’ report which said an autism diagnosis “offers economic advantages and protections”.
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She claimed “mental health has become something that society, schools and employers have to work around”.
Conservative leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch, from left, Robert Jenrick
via Associated Press
Robert Jenrick
1. A strong interest in Thatcher
The Tory leadership hopeful told the Conservative Party conference he gave his daughter “Thatcher” as a middle name in a reference to the late prime minister.
Jenrick told The Sunday Times that he wonders if the head of the NHS in England, Amanda Pritchard, is “the best person Britain has to run the NHS”.
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He said: “It’s nothing personal against her. I know she’s very professional. But I do think it’s time for someone new, who gets that NHS productivity has to improve.”
3. His remarks on the SAS
As part of his claim about the ways the ECHR restricts the UK, Jenrick used footage of an SAS soldier, who has since died, in northern Afghanistan in around 2002 in one of his campaign videos.
Jenrick sparked backlash when he claimed: “Our special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us that if they are caught, the European court will set them free.”
4. Wearing a ‘Hamas are terrorists’ hoodie
Jenrick was pictured wearing a “Hamas are terrorists” hoodie at a Conservative Friends of Israel meeting.
5. UK has to leave the ECHR or the Tories ‘die’
The former immigration minister suggested the UK had to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), or die, because of the way it restricts how immigration is tackled.
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He said: “This is more than just ‘leave or amend’: frankly, our party doesn’t have a future unless we take a stand and fix this problem. It’s leave or die for our party – I’m for leave.”
6. Installing the Star of David at UK ports
Jenrick told a fringe event at the Tory conference: “A small thing that I fought for when I was the immigration minister was to ensure that every Israeli citizen could enter our country through the e-gate, through the easy access.
“So that at every airport and point of entry to our great country there is the Star of David there as a symbol that we support Israel, we stand with Israel.”
7. Support for Trump
“If I were an American citizen, I would be voting for Donald Trump,” he said in August.
However he watered these comments down a bit later, saying he does not agree with everything the Republican candidate says and “respects” Kamala Harris.
8. Promoting “English identity”
In an article for the Daily Mail, Jenrick wrote: “The combination of unprecedented migration alongside the dismantling of our national culture, non-integrating multiculturalism and the denigration of our identity has presented huge problems.”
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He added: “It has had a clear impact on our culture, customs and cohesion. Taken together, the attitudes and policies of our metropolitan establishment have weakened English identity. They have put the very idea of England at risk.”
However, he was unable to explain exactly what he meant when pressed over his wording on Sky News.
9. Claiming anyone shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ in the street should be arrested
Speaking to Sky News about the August riots, Jenrick said: “I have been very critical of the police in the past, particularly around the attitude of some police forces to the protests since October 7 [Hamas’ attack on Israel.]
“I thought it was quite wrong somebody could shout Allahu Akbar on the streets of London and not be immediately arrested, or project genocidal chants onto Big Ben, and that person not be immediately arrested.”
He later defended himself, saying he was talking about “aggressive chanting” of the phrase.
10. Forgetting what he did while Home Office minister
Jenrick claimed the current PM Keir Starmer “signed us up to eight more years of uncontrolled levels of illegal migrants” after the government invited companies to manage the Western Jet Foil and Manston facilities.
Actually, the leadership hopeful signed off on those contracts himself when he was the immigration minister.
The long race to replace Rishi Sunak as the Conservative Party leader is now in its final round and party members have until the end of the month to vote for one of the two remaining candidates.
But, according to Curtice, they are both “unknown quantities” for most of the public.
Indeed, an Ipsos UK poll from August found 62% of Brits surveyed were not interested in following who would replace Sunak.
He added that they do not appear to understand why the Tories performed so poorly in July, and so are unlikely to try and take the steps “needed for their party to regain voters’ trust”.
He said: “Both candidates appear to believe the fault lies in a failure of the last government to be true to Conservative values.”
But, Curtice noted, that it’s clear from the polls the “party’s precipitous fall from grace was not occasioned by a failure to be truly Conservative” but by Partygate and Liz Truss’s mini-Budget.
And, according to the pollster, neither of them are strong enough to even win back all of the votes the Tories lost to far-right group Reform in July.
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He added: “Still, as largely unknown quantities, perhaps either Ms Badenoch or Mr Jenrick will prove able to surprise us – though in order to do so, they are both certainly going to have to reveal a wider range of political talents than they have so far.”
The Tories currently have just 121 seats in parliament, the lowest total ever recorded in the party’s history.
Tory rivals Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly are now in a “fight to the death” to get through to the final run-off in the Conservative leadership race, senior MPs believe.
Tom Tugendhat is widely expected to be the next candidate to drop out of the race when the next ballot of MPs takes place a week from now.
That would leave leadership hopefulsBadenoch and Cleverly battling it out for the right to go head-to-head with Jenrick in the final phase of the campaign, in which party members will decide who replaces Rishi Sunak as leader.
Cleverly is seen as the candidate with the wind in his sails at the end of the Tories’ annual conference in Birmingham.
His set-piece speech, in which he urged the party to “be more normal” and pledged to put a smile back on its face, went down well in the hall.
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The former home secretary has also succeeded in avoiding any controversy – unlike Badenoch.
A source on his campaign said: “The momentum is well and truly with James. He has always loved conference and the last few days have seen him thrive.”
Conservative leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch, from left, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat stand on the podium during the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
via Associated Press
One veteran MP said: “Kemi just reaffirmed people’s worst fears that if she was leader there would be a gaffe a day. All the rest of us would then have to spend all our time having to explain what she meant.
“Her campaign has appeared chaotic and she hasn’t done as much flesh-pressing as the others. Some colleagues were saying they had seen the other candidates three or four times but only seen her once, which plays into concerns about her work ethic.”
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And while her final speech to the conference gained pass marks, one former minister said it wasn’t the “humdinger” she needed to overtake Jenrick.
“It went down very well in the hall, and the content was good, even if the delivery wasn’t great,” the MP said.
However, a Badenoch campaign source told HuffPost UK they were “very happy” with how the week has gone.
“She was the only candidate anyone was talking about all week, proving that she is the only candidate with the star quality to cut through in opposition,” the source said.
“The membership loved her. Polls of members released during the conference put her ahead. The speech is winning plaudits. And two big hitters in David Davis and Helen Grant came out and endorsed her shortly after she’d finished speaking.”
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While Cleverly’s campaign has undoubtedly been buoyed by the last few days, party insiders believe he still needs to persuade MPs who had been planning to vote for Badenoch to switch to him if he is to have any chance of winning.
One undecided MP said: “James showed that he’s an experienced pro and would able to hit the ground running if he wins. He also answered some of the doubts about whether he really wants it.
“But has been at the heart of everything for last five years, so can he credibly claim that he will deliver change as leader? That’s his challenge now, because he’s in a fight to the death with Kemi for the second slot on the ballot.”
A Tory leadership candidate has revealed the bizarre middle name he gave his daughter as a tribute to a former prime minister.
Robert Jenrick admitted the youngster’s middle name is Thatcher because she was born in 2013, the same year her famous namesake died.
“I thought it was a good way of reminding her of a great prime minister,” he told a question and answer session at the Tory conference in Birmingham.
Margaret Thatcher was prime minister between 1979 and 1990, winning three general elections along the way.
Jenrick is currently the bookies’ favourite to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party leader.
However, he has been at the centre of a major row after claiming in a campaign video that the SAS kill terrorists rather than capturing them because they could be released by the European Court of Human Rights.
He has been condemned by his leadership rivals James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, both of whom served in the Army before entering politics.
Appearing on stage after Jenrick this afternoon, Cleverly said: “I’ve never accused the British armed forces of murdering anybody…anyone who makes that assertion better back it up.”
Maybe the Conservatives don’t really need a new leader, after all.
Remarkably, the party has actually gained seven local council seats in the past five weeks after suffering a landslide general election defeat less than three months ago.
That is despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the Tories are effectively leaderless at the moment.
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Rishi Sunak is still nominally in charge. But even those close to him concede that he mentally checked out of the job on the morning of July 5.
Indeed, the former PM will hardly be seen at the Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham, which kicks off on Sunday. He will address a members-only reception that evening, and is expected to play no further part in the proceedings.
The Conservatives’ poll ratings have recently ticked up slightly, although this has more to do with the Labour government’s ongoing woes than a sudden wave of affection for the Tories.
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Polling by Savanta, seen by HuffPost UK, confirms that the general public have stopped paying attention to the party.
Given a choice of who would make the best opposition leader, Sunak, Nigel Farage or Ed Davey, the most popular answer was “don’t know”.
Emma Levin, associate director at Savanta, said: “There is clearly a big gap in British politics for an opposition politician to properly take Keir Starmer to task. But that hasn’t happened yet.”
One former Tory cabinet member, who is yet to decide who to back in the leadership race, told HuffPost UK that the conference is an opportunity to show the public that the party still exists.
“Labour being so shit has just overwhelmed everything,” he said. “I’m genuinely surprised that they’re making a lot of very basic mistakes.
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“People have forgotten all about Rishi Sunak. It has all been about Labour and how bad they’ve been.”
The MP said he hoped that one of the four remaining candidates may emulate David Cameron, who used the party conference in 2005 to destroy his more-favoured rival, David Davis.
“This year’s conference is about bringing the leadership contest back to centre stage, and highlighting what the differences are between the contenders.
“We’ll be looking to see how they perform, whether they commit any gaffes and whether any of them can do a Cameron-esque performance that blows everyone else away.”
Under the rules of the contest, the remaining four will be whittled down to three and then two by a couple of ballots of Tory MPs when Westminster returns the week after next. It will then be up to the party’s members to decide the winner, who will be announced on November 2.
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The contenders: clockwise from top left, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly
Former immigration minister Jenrick is now the bookies’ favourite, overtaking the previous frontrunner Badenoch.
One of his supporters said: “There is a lot of momentum behind Robert’s campaign, but he’s not taking anything for granted, he’s going to keep working hard to persuade MPs to support his positive case for change.
“He’s the only candidate who can win back voters on the left and right with his focus on the big issues and his serious, credible answers on the key challenges of the day, such as immigration, NHS reform and growing our economy.”
But a Badenoch campaign source insisted she was very much still in the race.
He said: “Kemi has been touring the country solidly for the past few months, going from Conservative association to Conservative association and getting an amazing reception from the members.
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“All the independent polling puts her way out ahead with our membership. This conference is a chance to show MPs she is the members’ choice – the one with the star quality to cut through as a leader of the opposition and take the fight to Labour.”
Cleverly, a former party chairman, foreign secretary and home secretary, is seen by many as the dark horse of the contest, with even a senior figure in a rival campaign admitting he is “under-priced” by the bookies.
A source on his campaign described the conference as “a home fixture”, given his popularity with the party’s rank-and-file.
“He is a party man who loves campaigning and engaging with the activists and members – and he gets a consistently good reception from them wherever he goes, mainly because he knows half of them,” the source said.
“His approach is to engage as much as possible with the members, to set out his pitch as the unity candidate and the most experienced candidate who is ready to hit the ground running from day one as leader.”
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It is barely 12 weeks since the Tories were reduced to just 121 MPs in the House of Commons, a statistical irrelevance when compared to Labour’s 411 and fewer than 50 seats ahead of the Lib Dems.
Whoever wins the leadership race faces a monumental task in trying to return the party to power at the next election.
Nevertheless, there remains a flicker of optimism among the party that the new Labour government’s struggles are not just a blip, but a sign that their seemingly-impregnable Commons majority could be wiped out at the first attempt.
They believe there is some light at the end of a very long tunnel. Whether it turns out to be an oncoming train remains to be seen.
Mel Stride has become the latest candidate to be kicked out of the Tory leadership contest.
The former cabinet minister came last in a ballot of Conservative MPs.
They will now go forward to the Tory conference in Birmingham later this month, where they will each seek to convince MPs and party members that they have what it takes to succeed Rishi Sunak as leader.
Jenrick once again came top of the latest ballot with 33 votes, followed by Badenoch on 28, with Tugendhat and Cleverly both on 21 and Stride in last place on 16.
Fewer than 10% of the public think any of the Tory leadership candidates would make them favourites to win the next election, a damning poll has found.
The survey, by the More in Common think-tank, found that 34% of voters replied “none of them” when asked which of the six hopefuls would the Tories most likely to form the next government. Some 36% said they “don’t know”.
Even those who voted Tory in the last election are less-than-convinced by the choice on offer, the poll found.
Nearly one-third of them (32) said they “don’t know” which candidate will give the party the best chance of winning next time around, while 16% said “none of them”.
Cleverly again came top on 15%, with Patel second once more on 10%, with Badenoch on 9%, Jenrick and Tugendhat on 8% and Stride once again on 2%.
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The poll findings
More in Common
The poll also found that Patel is the only candidate recognised by more than half of the electorate.
Some 52% correctly identified the former home secretary when shown a picture of her, with 44% recognising Cleverly.
Badenoch came third with 37%, Jenrick was next on 21%, then Tugendhat on 19% and Stride with 12%.
Whoever wins also faces an uphill battle when they take on Keir Starmer, the poll found.
According to the public, none of them would make a better prime minister than the Labour leader, who enjoys a comfortable lead over each of his potential rivals.
Starmer is ahead of each of the candidates on who would make the better PM.
More in Common
The findings were published as Tory MPs prepare for the first ballot of the contest, when the number of candidates will be reduced from six to five.
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A second ballot will take place next week, after which the final four candidates will try to woo the party faithful at the Tory conference in Birmingham.
MPs will then choose the final two, who will be voted on my Tory members before the winner is announced on November 2.
The small rump of 121 Tory MPs who survived the party’s general election drubbing will return to Westminster on Monday with one item on their agenda – choosing the man or woman to take the fight to Keir Starmer for the next five years.
They will hardly have time to draw breath before the first ballot of the contest takes place 48 hours later, when one of the six candidates will be unceremoniously dumped by their colleagues.
Stride, a close ally of outgoing leader Rishi Sunak and the man who was rarely off our TV screens during the general election campaign, is seen as the most likely to fall at the first hurdle.
But many Tory MPs have told HuffPost UK that the outcome of Wednesday’s ballot is too close to call, and that Stride could well survive at the expense of a more fancied rival.
One former cabinet minister said: “I wouldn’t bet on Mel going in the first round. He’s got a hardcore of support in the parliamentary party and 15 or 20 MPs might be enough to get him through the first round.”
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A veteran MP added: “I think Rob and Kemi will come first and second, but any one of the other four could go on Wednesday. It will be very close and a few votes here and there could swing it.”
Although Badenoch remains the bookies’ favourite to emerge victorious in the end, many MPs have been surprised by her relative anonymity over the summer.
While her five rivals have been criss-crossing the country meeting party members and doing media interviews, the shadow communities secretary has made a virtue of taking two weeks off to recharge her batteries.
“Articles portraying politicians negatively for having a family life have done much to toxify the environment for MPs – we can do better than this,” Badenoch said earlier this month as she defended her decision to go on holiday with her family while parliament is in recess.
In a quote almost designed to annoy her rivals, a Badenoch ally told Guido Fawkes: “The general election campaign was long and hard and painful. I seriously doubt any Tory members, candidates or MPs will seriously begrudge the next leader of the Conservative Party having some time away with her family.”
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But one currently undecided Tory MP told HuffPost UK: “I think Kemi has under-performed so far. It’s been a very casual campaign. I think the story after Wednesday will be that she has performed below expectations.”
A shadow cabinet member said: “A few colleagues have expressed surprise at Kemi’s decision to go on holiday. We’re all knackered after the election, but if you want to be turning round the fortunes of the party you have to show that hunger.
“Some people are wondering whether she lacks the necessary drive. There have been questions about her work ethic in the past.
“The initial view was that Kemi would come racing out the blocks with big name endorsements to build up a lot of momentum, and there’s a lot of surprise that that hasn’t happened.”
But a Badenoch aide hit back: “The MPs complaining to you are backing other candidates and trying to make this a thing, but it isn’t.
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“Most MPs understand the value of taking a break after the election, and clearly the members care more about getting the best candidate rather than the one who did the most media in August. In the only truly independent poll by YouGov Kemi was the outright leader by a distance.”
“I think Rob and Kemi will come first and second, but any one of the other four could go on Wednesday.”
In that poll of Tory members, carried out a week ago, Badenoch had the backing of 24%, with Tugendhat second on 16%, Cleverly on 14%, Jenrick on 12%, Patel on 11% and Stride on just 2%.
Nevertheless, Jenrick – viewed as Badenoch’s main rival in the battle to be the standard bearer for the Tory right – has won plaudits among MPs for his campaign so far.
“I think Rob has got off to the best start, but it’s a long race,” said one backbencher.
“He’s definitely run the most professional, switched-on campaign, there’s no doubt about that.
“I would say at this moment, he is the frontrunner of six. But of course, that doesn’t mean he would be the frontrunner if he makes it to the final two.”
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Kemi Badenoch is the bookies’ favourite to be next Tory leader.
via Associated Press
The five who survive the first ballot on Wednesday will be reduced to four in another ballot of Tory MPs the week after.
They will then take part in a leadership beauty contest at the party’s annual conference in Birmingham at the end of September, after which MPs will whittle them down to the final two, with Tory members then having the final say on who should be the party’s new leader.
He or she will be announced on November 2, after which they will take on the Herculean task of trying to take the Conservatives back to power in 2029.
Whoever is chosen to succeed Rishi Sunak will be tasked with turning the Conservatives into a united, competent opposition who can convincingly present themselves to voters as a coherent, alternative government in five years’ time.
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The evidence of the last few years, in which the warring party has burned through four leaders and suffered its worst ever election defeat, suggest the chances of success are remote.
But one Badenoch backer told HuffPost UK: “I actually think the leadership contest so far has been quite a civil affair, which suggests that the party is ready to finally come together whoever wins. But time will tell.”
