Kemi Badenoch elected new Conservative Party chief, replaces Rishi Sunak as UK Opposition Leader

London: Kemi Badenoch on Saturday became the first Black woman to lead Britain’s Conservative Party as she succeeded Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons as the Leader of Opposition.

The 44-year-old Nigerian-heritage parliamentarian defeated former Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick after a three-month-long leadership election following Sunak’s resignation after the Tories suffered a bruising general election defeat on July 4.

The shadow secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government began by thanking her predecessor – who was the first British Indian leader of the party.

“I want to thank Rishi, no one could have worked harder in such difficult times. Rishi, thank you for everything you did. We all wish you and your wonderful family the very best for the future,” said Badenoch in her acceptance speech.

Sunak took to social media to extend his support. “Congratulations to Kemi Badenoch on being elected Conservative Party leader. 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. Let’s unite behind her,” he said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also congratulated the new Opposition leader and welcomed her as the “first Black leader of a Westminster party” as a proud moment for the country.

“I look forward to working with you and your party in the interests of the British people,” he said.

After a phased election process that had whittled down the finalists in the leadership race to just two, Badenoch bagged 53,806 votes to beat Jenrick who won 41,388 from the Tory membership who had voted via online and postal ballots over the last month.

Bob Blackman, the chair of the influential Tory 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, announced the result in London as the returning officer.

He revealed that the election had 131,680 eligible electorate of Conservative Party members up and down the UK, with a turnout of 72.8 per cent.

“Another glass ceiling shattered,” Blackman said as he announced the party’s new leader.

Badenoch, Member of Parliament for North West Essex, has long been popular among the Tories since she ran in a previous leadership race in 2022.

"Our party is critical to the success of our country. But to be heard, we have to be honest, honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip. The time has come to tell the truth… to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party and our country the new start that they deserve. It is time to get down to business, it is time to renew,” she said, pledging to get the party ready for government in time for the next election in 2029.

Having previously served as business and trade secretary and dealt with free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India, Badenoch indicated during the course of the Tory leadership campaign that she blocked the deal over demands for more visas.

“As business secretary, even as I was trying to do things to limit immigration, we had an India FTA where they kept trying to bring in migration and I said no. It’s one of the reasons why we didn’t sign it,” Badenoch reportedly told ‘The Telegraph’.

Both candidates had put immigration in the spotlight during the campaign, with Jenrick singling out India as one of the countries that should be subjected to tough visa restrictions across all categories unless it takes back its nationals who enter Britain illegally.

Badenoch, meanwhile, condemned new migrants bringing their disputes from India to cause unrest on the streets of the country.

“I saw as equalities minister people bringing cultural disputes from India to the streets of Leicester,” she said back in September.