Nigerian-born Kemi Badenoch elected leader of Conservative Party in the UK
Kemi Badenoch
Published By: Paul Dada
By Nehru Odeh
Kemi Badenoch, former business secretary in the United Kingdom has been elected leader of the Conservative Party. She was declared the winner at an event in central London on Saturday after defeating rival Robert Jenrick by 53,806 votes to 41,388, Yahoo reports.
Badenoch, who was raised in Nigeria, is the first black woman to lead a major party in the UK.
The North West Essex MP will replace former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as leader of the Opposition and seek to chart a path back to power for the Tories after their disastrous electoral outing in July.
During her campaign, Badenoch vowed to return the Conservatives to “first principles” and launch a series of reviews in the coming months to shape a new policy platform.
She is also the sixth Tory leader in less than eight and a half years and faces the challenge of uniting a fractured party.
In her victory speech, Badenoch told members it was “time to tell the truth” and “get down to business”.
Her “first responsibility” as the new Tory leader “is to hold this Labour government to account,” she said.
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“Our second is no less important – it is to prepare over the course of the next few years for government.”
All eyes will now turn to who Badenoch chooses for her shadow cabinet as she sets out the the future shape of the party.
Only a third of Conservative MPs backed Badenoch in her leadership win.
Badenoch previously said she would offer a frontbench job to all six of her rivals in the leadership race, including Jenrick.
But shadow home secretary James Cleverly, who came third in the race, has already ruled himself out of a frontbench role.
The Conservative Party face a significant challenge, with just 121 MPs after an election that saw the party lose seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform.
A YouGov poll published ahead of the result found four in 10 voters had an unfavourable view of Ms Badenoch, including 29% of Conservative voters, while Britons were more likely to think Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would make a better prime minister.
