British conservatives elect new leader post-election loss
Photo: Kemi Badenoch (facebook.com/kemibadenoch)
The UK Conservative Party has elected a new leader. Former Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch won the leadership vote, according to Sky News.
Badenoch received the votes of 53,806 Conservative Party members, while her opponent, former Junior Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick, received 41,388 votes.
“It is the most enormous honour to be elected to this role, to lead the party that I love - the party that has given me so much,” Badenoch said.
She also thanked former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whom she replaced as leader of the Conservatives.
“No one worked harder in such difficult times,” Kemi Badenoch stated, wishing Sunak all the best for the future.
Sunak, in turn, congratulated his successor.
“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,” Rishi Sunak said.
Rishi Sunak has led the Conservative Party and the British government since October 2022. In the summer of 2024, early parliamentary elections were held in the UK, which the Conservatives lost, while the opposition Labour Party emerged victorious.
Following this, Sunak stepped down from his post, and Keir Starmer assumed the role of UK Prime Minister.
