Kemi Badenoch elected as new British Conservative leader
by By Christopher McKeon and Caitlin Doherty, PA Political Staff · BreakingNews.ieKemi Badenoch has been elected leader of the British Conservative Party.
She was declared the winner at an event in central London on Saturday, defeating rival Robert Jenrick by 53,806 votes to 41,388.
The former minister will replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the opposition in the UK parliament and seek to chart a path back to power for the Tories after their disastrous election defeat in July.
They face a significant challenge, with just 121 MPs after an election that saw the party lose seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform.
A YouGov poll published ahead of the result found four in 10 voters had an unfavourable view of Ms Badenoch, including 29 per cent of Conservative voters.
Britons were more likely to think Labour leader Keir Starmer would make a better prime minister.