‘No announcements’ on Tory leadership race, Suella Braverman says

Suella Braverman has said she had “no announcements” about the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader after the crushing election defeat to Labour.

After leading the Conservatives to their worst general election result, Mr Sunak said he would quit as party leader once arrangements were in place to choose his successor.

Ms Braverman is expected to throw her hat into the ring in what could be an acrimonious contest which could shape the party for years to come as right-wingers and more centrist Tories battle it out.

Asked whether she would be the next party leader, Ms Braverman told broadcasters outside her home on Saturday: “No announcements. We’ve just got to take our time, we’ve got to figure out what the situation is.”

‘Really bad result’

The former home secretary continued: “It’s been a really bad result. There’s no two ways about it. Hundreds of excellent Tory MPs have been kicked out of office.”

Ms Braverman was elected as MP in the redrawn constituency of Fareham and Waterlooville with a 6,000 majority.

The former cabinet minister is seen as a strong contender in the leadership contest after many potential rivals lost their seats in the Tory bloodbath.

After 649 of the 650 Commons seats had been declared, Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in Conservative history.

Ms Braverman is on the right of the party and has suggested the Conservatives should welcome Reform leader Nigel Farage into the party.

She could be vying for the leadership with former home secretary James Cleverly; ex-business secretary Kemi Badenoch; Dame Priti Patel, who served as home secretary between July 2019 and September 2022; Robert Jenrick, who previously served as immigration minister; former chancellor Jeremy Hunt; and ex-health secretary Victoria Atkins.

Tory MPs usually vote to select the top two candidates to put forward as potential leaders, with the party membership choosing the ultimate winner, although the rules and timeline of the race would be set out by the backbench 1922 Committee.