Kemi Badenoch Enters Tory Leadership Race as Frontrunner

(Bloomberg) -- Former UK Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is joining the race to lead the Conservative Party following the worst election defeat in its history, with bookmakers currently making her favorite to win the contest.

Badenoch, 44, will focus her campaign on “renewing” the party, with the goal of returning to government in 2030, she will write in an essay for the Times newspaper on Sunday night. The Tories are aiming to name a new leader by November after Labour ended their 14 years in power. 

“At the foundation of our renewal, and indeed the reassembly of the conservative family, is a confident set of principles about how our economy should work, and for whom it should work,” Badenoch will say. “It’s become a dirty word, but our renewal must also mean a renewal for capitalism.”

Badenoch is the sixth candidate to throw her hat into the ring and is leading with odds of roughly 2/1, according to bookmakers. She will compete against former Home Secretary Priti Patel, former Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride, former Foreign and Home Secretary James Cleverly, former Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and ex-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick.

The announcement comes hours before nominations close on Monday. Conservative members of Parliament will then narrow the candidates to four by the end of September — in time for the party’s annual conference — before shortlisting two for a vote by party members. The new leader is set to be announced on Nov. 2. 

In a debate held at Bloomberg’s European headquarters in London before the election this month, Badenoch dodged questions about whether she aspired to succeed then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as Tory leader. She said her role as business secretary was a “job of a lifetime” and easier than being premier.

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