Six MPs are running for Tory leadership
Among the British Conservatives exiled into opposition, six MPs have thrown their hats into the ring for the party leadership. By the close of the nomination period, former cabinet members James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel, Kemi Badenoch, and Mel Stride had submitted the necessary minimum of ten signatures from parliamentary colleagues to run. The process to replace former PM Rishi Sunak is set to take around three months.
Following their crushing defeat in the July elections, the Conservatives are divided between moderates seeking to win back centrist voters and hardliners pushing for tougher immigration and law-and-order policies to counter the right-wing populist Reform UK party led by former Brexit activist Nigel Farage.
Former Home Secretary Patel and ex-Economy Minister Badenoch hail from the party's right wing. Former Immigration Minister Jenrick has positioned himself as an advocate for strict immigration controls. Stride previously served as Work and Pensions Minister. Former Foreign Secretary Cleverly and ex-Home Office Minister Tugendhat represent more moderate views. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, seen as the standard-bearer of the party's right, announced on Sunday she would not run. She urged her party to extend an olive branch to Reform UK and welcome Farage into the Conservatives' fold.
The six candidates will now face votes among the House of Commons' Conservative MPs, whittling the field down to four. The party conference in early October will eliminate two more candidates. The final decision between the last two will be made by a vote of the party membership.
Bookmakers had initially favored Badenoch. She advocates for a "renewal of capitalism" and a smaller state.
Six MPs, including former Home Secretary Priti Patel and ex-Economy Minister Kemi Badenoch, are part of the six who submitted their nominations. Tom Tugendhat, a former Home Office Minister, is among the moderate views represented, along with James Cleverly, former Foreign Secretary.
