UK: Kemi Badenoch Replaces Rishi Sunak as Conservative Leader
Kemi Badenoch on Saturday became the UK's new Conservative Party leader, defeating Robert Jenrick by 12,418 votes. She received 53,806 votes, while Jenrick secured 41,388 votes....
Facts
- Kemi Badenoch on Saturday became the UK's new Conservative Party leader, defeating Robert Jenrick by 12,418 votes. She received 53,806 votes, while Jenrick secured 41,388 votes.[1][2]
- Badenoch, 44, is the first Black woman to lead a UK political party and the fourth woman to lead the Tories. She succeeds Rishi Sunak, the first non-white British prime minister.[3][4][5]
- After being elected party leader, Badenoch, who was raised in Nigeria, told the Conservatives to 'get down to business' and 'reset' and 'renew' their politics.[6]
- As of 2022, there were 172K Conservative Party members, while there are now 121 Tory MPs in the House of Commons.[7]
- In July, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stepped down as Conservative Party leader after losing over 250 seats with 24% of the popular vote in the country's general election.[8]
- Jenrick served as immigration minister in the Sunak government, while Badenoch has held roles such as children and families and trade minister.[9][10]
Sources: [1]POLITICO (a), [2]Guardian, [3]New York Times, [4]The Telegraph, [5]POLITICO (b), [6]CNN, [7]Associated Press, [8]Verity, [9]GOV.UK and [10]Dw.Com.
Narratives
- Right narrative, as provided by telegraph.co.uk. While Badenoch's win is a historic political and personal achievement, she must immediately stop the bleeding to Reform UK if the party is to see any success and survival over the next election cycle. To the delight of Farage, the center-right continues to undergo an existential crisis — the party must unite once again and prove that it remains the political force once revered around the world.
- Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. Instead of recognizing the self-inflicted errors that handed the Tories their worst election defeat in modern political history, the party doubled down with two hard-right politicians hugely unpopular with the moderate British public. Blinded by Brexit-inspired nationalistic ideals, the Conservatives seem destined to slip further away from a credible electoral challenge.
