Kemi Badenoch has become the new leader of the UK Conservatives and the first black woman to lead a major political party in the UK.
Badenoch, 44, replaces Rishi Sunak as leader and has promised to lead the party through a period of renewal following its election loss to the Labour Party in July.
Badenoch won 53,806 votes from party members to win the leadership over former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who won 41,388 votes.
Badenoch’s leadership will mark a shift to the right for the Conservatives. She has told supporters it’s time to “get down to business”.
“The task that stands before us is tough, but simple, our first responsibility as his majesty’s loyal opposition is to hold this Labour government to account,” she told party members after winning the vote
“Our second is no less important, it is to prepare over the course of the next few years for government.”
Badenoch is the sixth Tory leader in less than 9 years. She has a professional background in banking and IT and became an MP in 2017.
She has talked about returning the party to “first principles”, and has been described as having a no-nonsense style of communication and holding “anti-woke” values.
During the campaign for the Conservatives leadership, Badenoch sparked debate on maternity pay, when she said it was “excessive” . She spoke about how she believes in personal responsibility and “the answer cannot be let the government help people to have babies”. She later clarified that she believes in maternity pay.
Meanwhile, she has told the BBC her approach to the economy would be “completely the opposite” to that of Chancellor Rachel Reeves from the Labour Party.
Speaking about the Conservatives, Badenoch said the party had lost the trust of the public for a “whole bunch of reasons – not keeping promises but also looking disunited.”
In one of her first decisions as leader, Badenoch has appointed Rebecca Harrtis as the Conservative Party’s chief whip.