The new Conservative leader in the UK

After 14 tumultuous years in power, the Conservatives are now in opposition and have gone through a highly contested leadership struggle. Kemi Badenoch, age 44, has won the race to become the new leader of the Conservative Party, pledging to return it to its founding principles and win back voters after its disastrous election defeat in July. The Conservatives went from having 365 seats and an absolute majority in parliament to just 121.

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won 412 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons with 33.7% of the vote. The Conservatives won 23.7% and 121 seats. The Liberal Democrats improved their standing, winning 72 seats with 12.2% of the vote, while the Scottish National Party (SNP) secured 9 seats (2.5% of the overall vote in the UK, but only standing in Scotland). Sinn Fein secured 7 seats with a 0.7% vote share (only standing in Northern Ireland). Reform UK became the third largest party and gained 5 seats (14.3% vote share), as did the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland (with an overall vote share of 0.6%). 4 seats went to both the Green party (6.7% vote share) and Plaid Cymru in Wales (overall vote share of 0.7%). Voter turnout was 60%, down by 7.6% compared to 2019 and the lowest since 2001. Party choices are more diverse than one might think, even though the election system in effects creates a one-party system. This has been an ongoing problem with the Conservatives and will likely be the same with Labour. Everyone would probably be better off with some cooperation between several parties.

Badenoch came out on top in the two-horse race with former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, winning 57 percent of the votes of party members. She received 53,806 votes, while Jenrick got 41,388 votes from the 131,680 eligible electors. The party placed turnout at 72.8 percent. Both candidates could be considered to the right of the party. This might be an attempt to handle Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, the populist right-wing party.

Badenoch, the first black woman leader of a major political party, replaces former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and has pledged to lead the party through a period of renewal, saying it had veered towards the political center by governing from the left and must return to its traditional ideas. She likes to cite her political heroine, Margaret Thatcher, but analysts have said Badenoch’s ideas still need work.

The combative former equalities minister faces the daunting task of reuniting a divided and weakened party that was emphatically removed from power in July after 14 years in charge. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Badenoch spent her childhood years in Lagos, Nigeria. She became an MP in 2017, and, in 2022, made her first bid for Conservative leader.

With forthright views on everything from what she calls identity politics to the value of officials, Badenoch attracts both strong admirers and detractors. But some more centrist Conservatives worry Badenoch might alienate not only the more moderate wing of the party but also some voters who were won over by the centrist Liberal Democrats at the last election.

The Conservative party keeps changing and moving away from traditional core values and is more of a centrist party nowadays. The fact that the party has the first black leader after having had the first Hindu leader in Sunak, shows a confused party. The party might require a white Christian to win many voters back. After all, the Reform party did very well and Farage is now in the Parliament, making his voice heard. The next election does not have to be held until 2029, so there are years left to reshape the political agenda. Labour is off to a tough start in power. Immigration is an increased problem and so is crime. The UK is also a reduced power, both globally and in Europe after Brexit. It would not be surprising if there will be more changes such as Scottish independence and Northern Ireland returning to Ireland.

Badenoch does not really have a new agenda and has been part of the losing government. She is more part of the problem than a new solution. The main problem is that the party has lost millions of voters to the Reform Party and this trend continues. So, the Conservative party might have to move further to the right and truly come up with a plan to tackle Britain’s growing immigration problem. Badenoch might be young and black with a different story, but this is not the solution needed for the Conservative party. She will likely be just another parenthesis in the long line of failed party leaders.