Conservative Party reveals when its next leader will be announced
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From Kemi Badenoch to Mel Stride, a host of potential candidates are tipped to throw their hats in the ring for the Conservative leadership race.
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In brief
- With Rishi Sunak suffering a heavy defeat in the election, his replacement is on the horizon.
- The leader will be announced on 2 November, the Tories have confirmed.
- Conservatives who have tried for the leadership before are likely to run again, but we could see some new faces too.
Conservative losses of 2024 General Election
The Tories have just revealed that the new leader of the party will be announced on 2 November.
Rishi Sunak is still in the top Tory job for now, and will remain so until that date.
So how do they choose a leader? And who could it be?
How the process works
The Conservative Party board and its 1922 committee of backbench MPs have decided that candidates will need the backing of at least 10 MPs to proceed to the ballot.
That includes a proposer, a seconder and eight nominations.
MPs will then whittle the nominees down to four candidates, who will put their arguments forward to party members at the Conservative conference in autumn.
These candidates are then narrowed down to just two options, with party members voting on their preferred choice.
Who is expected to run?
Kemi Badenoch
The 44-year-old has made a name for herself, rising from being relatively unknown to a prominent voice in the party. In the July election, she was able to hold her seat while other big names in the party fell.
The former Business and Trade Secretary became notorious for her “anti-woke” principles, with some dubbing her a culture warrior for her views on issues such as trans rights. She also topped a Conservative Home poll, ranking as the top candidate ahead of Mordaunt in a December 2023 survey asking respondents who the next Tory leader should be.
Suella Braverman
Braverman also held her seat in the general election and hasn't ruled herself out of running in the leadership contest. However, the FT reports that her interventions during the campaign and previous openness to Nigel Farage are likely to significantly spoil her chances if she does decide to throw her hat in the ring.
The right-wing MP may also face challenges if the party decide to move towards the centre and go for a more moderate candidate.
Lewis Goodall’s take: “I think there is an open question which is being talked about more and more in Westminster about Suella Braverman’s future and what her strategy is. Look, everybody knows this is a woman who has positioned herself repeatedly and sustainedly about the Tory leadership post election.”
Tom Tugenhat
Former army man Tom Tugenhat was also a contender in the 2022 leadership race. Many expect him to run again.
He was eliminated in the third round and later backed Liz Truss.
But polling has suggested Tugenhat would perform better than Sunak in a general election, with some describing him a so-called “unity candidate”.
The MP for Tonbridge and Malling is viewed as a more moderate candidate than his counterparts.
Robert Jenrick
The former immigration minister has been touted by some as the next leader, although he has never announced his intention to stand.
In December 2023, he resigned over Sunak’s immigration bill and nearly sparked an internal Tory civil war over the Rwanda legislation, which he said “does not far enough” as it did not allow the government to override the international laws that have prevented the government from sending asylum seekers to central Africa.
One Tory MP told the New Statesman: “You should keep an eye on Jenrick…His resignation means he looks like he’s got integrity.”
James Cleverly
The moderate former home secretary held his seat, calling the general election a “difficult night”.
Being one of the big Tories to cling on, it was predicted that Cleverly would throw his hat in the ring.
And those predictions came true after he became the first leader to officially announce he would run for the leadership.
Mel Stride
The former Work and Pensions secretary, who is a close Sunak ally, has confirmed he is considering whether to stand in the leadership race.
The Central Devon MP is viewed as being on the moderate wing of the party.
He told Sky News there is a "reasonable chance" that he would stand and that he would make a decision on it "relatively soon."
Stride also told Times Radio that "a number of colleagues have approached me and suggested that I might do that."
What the News Agents say
Lewis Goodall said there had been a big debate within the Tory party about the length of the upcoming leadership contest and whether they should play it shorter, or go longer.
But with the 2 November date announced, it seems that the party will take the longer option.
One thing to consider, he notes, is that waiting longer "would obviously benefit lesser known candidates perhaps, rather than the more senior ones".
But the worry with not rushing a leadership contest is that "what happened in 2010 to the Labour Party, where they had a longish leadership contest, happens. There's a sort of vacuum, there's no communication from the Conservative Party.
"It allows the Labour Party just to basically dominate the airwaves, say whatever they want, likewise with Farage, because there's no kind of central force to the Tory party or critique".
"But the argument for going longer, and maybe even having a so called Beauty Contest in the Tory party conference in October, is that it allows the party to have a more nuanced conversation about what has gone wrong, and perhaps allow people to emerge who might otherwise struggle in a shorter contest, which is basically what happened with David Cameron in 2005."
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