Kemi Badenoch promises to ‘tell the truth’ as new Conservative leader

Kemi Badenoch has become the first black woman to lead the Conservative party, ITV News’ Aisha Zahid reports
New Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has vowed to “tell the truth” and “stand up for our principles”, as she was declared the winner of a four-month-long leadership race.
The former business secretary defeated her rival Robert Jenrick in the final round of voting by 53,806 votes to 41,388.
Following the announcement in central London on Saturday, Badenoch said: “It is the most enormous honour to be elected in this role, to lead the party that I love, the party that has given me so much – I hope that I will be able to repay that debt.”
The result has seen Badenoch become the first black leader of a major Westminster political party, a feat Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer congratulated her for.
Former Prime Minister and Conservative leader Rishi Sunak also praised her, and said: “I know that she will be a superb leader of our great party.
“She will renew our party, stand up for Conservative values, and take the fight to Labour. Let’s unite behind her.”
The North West Essex MP will take over from Rishi Sunak as leader of the Opposition, looking to help the Tories recover from the General Election result in July, which saw it win just 121 seats.
Badenoch described the task which lay ahead for the party as “tough but simple”.
She said: “It is to prepare over the course of the next few years for government, to ensure that by the time of the next election, we have not just a clear set of Conservative pledges that appeal to the British people, but a clear plan for how to implement them, a clear plan to change this country by changing the way that government works.
“The Prime Minister is discovering all too late the perils of not having such a plan. That huge job begins today.”
After polls closed on Thursday, both candidates thanked their supporters. Badenoch described the party as a “family” and said that it is “much more to me than a membership organisation”.
Badenoch praised Jenrick for his leadership campaign, and said: “You and I know that we don’t actually disagree on very much.
In a post on X, Jenrick offered his congratulations, urging the party to unite to against a “disastrous” Labour government.
Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, and grew up in Nigeria where her father was a GP and her mother was a lecturer in physiology.
She spoke Yoruba before she spoke English, and later said that she was “to all intents and purposes a first-generation immigrant”.
After leaving university, she initially worked as a software engineer before moving into banking. In 2005, at the age of 25, she joined the Conservative Party.
She gained election to Westminster in the safe Tory seat of Saffron Walden in 2017. When Boris Johnson became prime minister in 2019, he handed Badenoch her first government role as junior minister for children and families.
The party lost seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK in July’s election.
Chairwoman of the Labour Party Ellie Reeves said Badenoch’s victory showed the Conservatives had “learnt nothing” since the election.
“They could have spent the past four months listening to the public, taking responsibility for the mess they made and changing their party,” she said.
“Instead, Kemi Badenoch’s election as leader shows they’re incapable of change.”
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice criticised Badenoch for her role in the last government, which he claimed “failed Britain”.
“She said nothing while Rishi Sunak hit hard-working people with record immigration, the small boats crisis, the highest taxes for 60 years, record NHS waiting lists and sky-high crime.
“Instead of standing up for Britain whilst in government, she stood up for her own career prospects and chauffeur-driven cars.”
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 fighting 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 controversy.
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Meanwhile, Jenrick drew criticism 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.
The contest was triggered after Sunak announced he would step down as party leader after the party’s election defeat in the summer.
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