LONDON — The British Conservative Party on Saturday chose Kemi Badenoch as its new leader as it tries to bounce back from a heavy election defeat that ended 14 years in power.
The first black woman to lead a major British political party, Badenoch (pronounced BADE-enock) defeated rival lawyer Robert Jenrick by a vote of nearly 100,000 members of the right-of-centre Conservatives.
He received 53,806 votes in the online and postal vote of party members, to Jenrick's 41,388.
Badenoch succeeds Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who in July led the Conservatives to their worst election result since 1832. The Conservatives lost more than 200 seats, bringing their numbers down to 121.
The new leader's difficult task is to try to restore the party's reputation after years of division, scandals and economic turmoil, to hammer home Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer's policies on key issues including the economy and immigration, and to return the Conservatives to power in the next election. expected in 2029.
“The task before us is difficult but simple,” Badenoch said in a victory speech to Conservative lawmakers, Labor and journalists in London. He said the task of the party is to hold the Labor Government accountable, make promises and the government's plan.
Speaking about the dissolution of the party in the election, he said “we have to be honest – honest that we made mistakes, honest that we let standards slide.”
“The time has come for us to speak the truth, fight for our principles, plan our future, reform our politics and thinking, and give our team and our country the fresh start they deserve,” said Badenoch. said.
Business secretary in Sunak's government, Badenoch was born in London to Nigerian parents and spent much of his childhood in the West African country.
The 44-year-old software engineer describes himself as a disruptor, championing a low-tax, free-market economy and pledging to “reconnect, reboot and reorganize” Britain.
A critic of multiculturalism and a self-proclaimed opponent of awakening Badenoch has criticized gender-neutral toilets and the government's plans to reduce the UK's carbon emissions. During the leadership campaign he was criticized for saying that “not all cultures are equally valid,” and for suggesting that maternity pay was excessive.
Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the Conservative Party may have “turned to the right in terms of its economic policies and its social policies” under Badenoch.
He predicted that Badenoch would pursue “what you would call a boats, boilers and bathrooms strategy …. with a strong focus on the trans issue, the immigration issue and the skepticism of zero-sum progress.”
Although the Conservative Party dominates the country – its 132,000 members are wealthy, older white men – its top ranks have become more diverse.
Badenoch is the third female leader of the Tories, after Margaret Thatcher and Liz Truss, both of whom became prime minister. He is the second Conservative leader from a non-white background, after Sunak, and the first with African roots. The centre-left Labor Party, by contrast, has only ever been led by whites.
In a leadership contest that lasted more than three months, Conservative MPs narrowed the field from six in a series of votes before placing the final two on the wider party membership.
Both finalists come from the right of the party, and say they can win over voters from Reform UK, the hardline, anti-immigrant party led by popular politician Nigel Farage who has eaten away at Conservative support.
But the party has also lost many voters to the winning party, Labour, and the centrist Liberal Democrats, and some Conservatives worry that doing well will lead the party away from public opinion.
Starmer's government has had a difficult first few months in office, plagued by negative headlines, financial gloom and falling approval ratings.
But Bale said history suggests the odds are against Badenoch leading the Conservatives back to power in 2029.
“It is not normal for someone to take over when the party is badly beaten and is able to lead it to win the election,” he said. “However, Keir Starmer did exactly that after 2019. So records will be broken.”
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