Kemi Badenoch won the Conservative Party’s leadership election on Saturday, succeeding Rishi Sunak. She is the first person of African descent to lead the Conservatives.
On Saturday, the Conservative Party declared her victory via a post on X.
” ANNOUNCED: @KemiBadenoch has been elected Leader of the Conservative Party,” the party tweeted.
Badenoch, 44, defeated Robert Jenrick after a four-month campaign following Sunak’s resignation.
According to Conservative MP Bob Blackman, 72% of voters participated.
According to a YouGov study, the majority of people have yet to form an opinion about Ms Badenoch. But 40% of those polled said they disliked her.
During an interview with the National News, former justice secretary Robert Buckland stated that Ms Badenoch “will be an excellent person to work with” as a leader, having witnessed her strong character and ability firsthand while working in government.
“She knows that the party’s values need to be reset and that we’ve got to win trust as without trust, we don’t get anywhere in terms of electoral success,” he added. “I think she better understands that more than most and that’s why she deserved to win.”
The role as opposition leader was an “unenviable task” and Ms Badenoch “will not be under any doubt about the scale of work ahead to win back power”, he added.
“She is the person who had more MP support than any other in the leadership race so people need to knuckle down and get on with the job of opposing the government, not opposing each other.”
He added that he hoped a “new phase in politics” would see Ms Badenoch unite the party and “the Tories regrouping”.
He also suggested that she listen to think tanks and policy units who have the expertise to provide her with new and innovative policies.
“It’s going to be very hard and unglamorous, but I believe Kemi has the strength of spirit to do it,” he told the National News during an interview.
