LONDON — Kemi Badenoch triumphed in the Conservative leadership election and is now leader of Britain’s official opposition party.
Badenoch beat former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick. She received 53,806 votes, compared with 41,388 votes for Jenrick.
She inherits the dubious honor of leading Britain’s Tories, who suffered their worst-ever election defeat in July after 14 years in government. They were reduced to just 121 seats in the House of Commons as Labour won a landslide.
Badenoch has served in a host of Cabinet roles under previous Tory leaders, and argued during the campaign that the Conservatives needed to rebuild, understand their purpose as a party and rid themselves of incoherency.
Politically, Badenoch is on the right and advocates free markets and free speech. She has been unafraid to court controversy throughout her career in frontline politics. She is a fierce critic of the left, but has denied intentionally wading into so-called “culture wars” issues of gender and identity to boost her profile.
She attracted criticism during the campaign for the top Tory job with comments claiming maternity pay had “gone too far” and saying minimum wage hampered businesses. Rather than prioritizing a slew of policy announcements, Badenoch has argued that the Conservatives must take advantage of the one upside of being in opposition — time to think.
This coming Wednesday, Badenoch will face Keir Starmer for the first time at Prime Minister’s Questions.