Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

New Conservative Party leader to be crowned

02 Nov 2024 5 minute read
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick

Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick to be crowned as the new Conservative Party leader on Saturday, as four-month-long race reaches the finish line.

The result of the leadership ballot is expected to be announced late in the morning, with the members’ ballot having closed on Thursday.

The winner will be at the helm as the party looks to recover from the July election result which saw it return just 121 MPs.

Polls

After the close of polls on Thursday, both candidates thanked their backers for their support through the contest.

Ms Badenoch described the party as a “family” and said that it is “much more to me than a membership organisation”.

Mr Jenrick also called for the party to “move past the drama” of recent years and “unite”.

“Together we can put an end to the excuses, move past the drama, and unite our party,” he wrote on X.

Immigration, the economy, and how the Conservatives can rebuild trust with the electorate and win back voters they lost at the election have all been discussed at length through the campaign.

Election

The party lost seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK in the July poll.

Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly spent the summer campaigning alongside Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch after they put their names forward in the nominations at the end of July.

Dame Priti and Mr Stride were the first two contenders to be eliminated in September, leaving four by the time the party gathered in Birmingham for its autumn conference at the end of the month.

While the candidates spent four days vying to secure votes, both Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick found themselves embroiled in rows during the conference.

Ms Badenoch ended up asserting her support for maternity pay after comments caused a controversy.

Meanwhile, Mr Jenrick faced heat from other leadership rivals over claims he made about UK special forces.

Surprise

Shadow home secretary Mr Cleverly appeared to take the lead after the conference, coming top of the third ballot of MPs with 39 votes, while Mr Tugendhat got knocked out after securing only 20.

There was some surprise when Mr Cleverly then did not make the final two names to be put to members the following day, securing only 37 votes compared with Mr Jenrick’s 41 and Ms Badenoch’s 42.

In the weeks since the final MP ballot, Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch have been travelling up and down the country in their attempts to secure member support.

At the start of the campaign, Ms Badenoch wrote in The Telegraph that the party “need to get back to first principles” and has been light on the details of specific policies she would enact.

Disrespectful

Amid the events and speeches, Mr Jenrick criticised his opponent for offering up what he called “a promise of a plan” rather than more concrete policies.

He told the BBC’s Westminster Hour in October that “I think it’s disrespectful to the members and the public to ask for their votes without saying where you stand on the big issues facing our country today”.

Mr Jenrick added: “A plan today is what I offer. A promise of a plan at some point in the future is what my opponent offers, and I don’t think that’s the way to rebuild the public’s trust and confidence in us.”

The contest was triggered after Mr Sunak announced he would step aside in the wake of the party’s election defeat in the summer.

California

Earlier this week the former prime minister played down suggestions that he would be leaving Westminster for California, and told MPs that he would be spending more time in the “greatest place on earth”.

“If anyone needs me, I will be in Yorkshire,” he told Prime Minister’s Questions.

There was speculation earlier this year that the Richmond and Northallerton MP – who previously worked at a hedge fund in California – could be in line for a job in Silicon Valley.

“Today is my last appearance at PMQs and I’m happy to confirm reports that I will now be spending more time in the greatest place on earth where the scenery is indeed worthy of a movie set, and everyone is a character,” he said.

“That’s right, if anyone needs me, I will be in Yorkshire.”

Change

The Conservatives returned MPs in 121 seats at the July poll, down hundreds on their 2019 result, having secured less than 25% of the vote nationally.

Speaking on Downing Street the morning after the election, Mr Sunak apologised to the country and his party.

“To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry,” he said.

“I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change.

“And yours is the only judgment that matters.

“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s result, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the contest has shown the Conservatives are “refusing to take responsibility for the damage they did to the country”.

She said: “Whoever wins the Conservative Party leadership contest will have to carry the can for years of failure that tanked the economy and left the NHS on its knees.”


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

5 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
hdavies15
hdavies15
1 month ago

Crowned ? Surely you mean “clowned”

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
1 month ago
Reply to  hdavies15

Yes, it’s a typo.

Dai Ponty
Dai Ponty
1 month ago

Both far right clowns what a choice

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
1 month ago

The agony of months is nearly over soon to be replaced by a few months of more agony before the sniping, squabbling and bickering brings about their total collapse and the Toryform merger is imposed without a single member being asked.

Karl
Karl
1 month ago

4 months to pick the next populist turncoat with no spine. In that time I bet Jenrick has got very dizzy turning so much. Whichever one wins. There is no human qualities on show. Just more populist crap. I expect them to bang on about the ECHR and a fake woke war in their tiny minds. More Tory fighting too i suspect

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.