The Conservative Party has concluded voting for the new leader over a marathon contest to replace Rishi Sunak. The ballot of party members came to a close on Friday at 17:00 GMT. The winner is expected to be announced on Saturday morning, almost four months after the Tories’ crushing general election defeat which triggered Sunak’s resignation.
The Conservative members have been choosing between two candidates, former Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick, after eliminating four others in a series of votes by the party’s MPs. While Badenoch is the favourite to win, Jenrick insisted the contest was “close,” saying “we’re chasing down every vote.”
Appearing on the Politics Live programme, he said he wanted “whoever is elected to have a mandate from the membership.” Earlier this week, Badenoch suggested there had been a low turnout, stating, “I’m doing more media this week specifically because people aren’t turning out to vote as much as we would have expected.”
Immigration, the economy, and how the Conservatives can rebuild trust with voters have been debated at length through the campaign. The party suffered its worst general defeat in its history in July as it was reduced to a record low of 121 seats in the House of Commons, with under 24% of the vote.
The two candidates have differed in their opinions on their vision for the future of the Conservative Party. Jenrick has called for a legally-binding cap on net migration and the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. On the other hand, Badenoch has called for a return to core Conservative values, arguing the previous Tory government “talked right but governed left” by backing a smaller state with the government doing “fewer things” but doing them better.
The two candidates raised a further £112,500 in donations to their campaigns recently, with Badenoch receiving £82,500 and Jenrick declaring two donations totalling £30,000. Over the course of the campaign, Jenrick has received £480,000 while his rival has received £422,500
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