UK Conservatives elect Kemi Badenoch as new leader, the first Black woman to head a major British party

Badenoch became the third female leader of the Conservative Party, after Margaret Thatcher and Liz Truss; They both became prime ministers. He is the second non-white Conservative leader after Sunak and the first leader of African descent. The centre-left Labor Party, by contrast, was led exclusively by white men.

In a leadership contest that lasted more than three months, Conservative MPs whittled the field down to six candidates in a series of ballots, before fielding the final two in the wider party membership.

Both finalists came from the right of the party and argued they could win back voters from Reform UK, the far-right, anti-immigrant party led by populist politician Nigel Farage, who has drained the Conservatives of support.

But the party has also lost large numbers of voters to the winning party, Labor, and the centrist Liberal Democrats, and some Conservatives worry that moving to the right will alienate the party from public opinion.

Starmer’s government has had a difficult first few months in office, with negative headlines, financial distress and a falling approval rating.

But Bale said the historical record showed Badenoch was unlikely to return the Conservatives to power in 2029.