New Conservative Party leader to be crowned

Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will be crowned as the new Conservative Party leader on Saturday, as the four-month-long race to replace Rishi Sunak 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.

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

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

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.

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 Jenrick and Badenoch after they put their names forward in the nominations at the end of July.

Dame Priti and 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 Badenoch and Jenrick found themselves embroiled in rows during the conference.

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

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

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

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

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

At the start of the campaign, 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.

Amid the events and speeches, 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”.

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 Sunak announced he would step aside in the wake of the party’s election defeat in the summer.

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.”

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, 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.”

PA – Caitlin Doherty