2024 Conservative Party leadership election (UK)
British leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak
A Conservative Party leadership election was announced on 5 July 2024 when then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his plans to resign as Conservative leader after the party's defeat at the 2024 general election.[1]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The leadership race began on 24 July and will last for over three months, with Rishi Sunak's replacement being confirmed on 2 November.[2]
Timeline
changeDate | Event |
---|---|
24–29 July | Nomination period; potential candidates must gather the support of ten fellow Conservative MPs to qualify for the first MPs' ballot.[3][2] |
4–11 September | Conservative MPs will vote in a series of ballots to narrow the field down to four candidates.[2] |
29 September – 2 October |
The Conservative Party Conference will take place, where all four remaining leadership hopefuls will give keynote speeches.[2] |
2–10 October | Conservative MPs will vote in two more ballots, where the four candidates will be whittled down to two finalists.[2] |
10–31 October | The final two candidates will go head-to-head in an online ballot of all Tory party members.[2] |
2 November | The result of the election will be announced.[2] |
Candidates
changeAnnounced
changeThe following have announced their leadership campaigns.
Declined
changeThe following Conservative Party politicians were seen by commentators as possible candidates for the leadership but declined to stand:
- Victoria Atkins, Shadow Health Secretary (2024–present), Health Secretary (2023–2024), MP for Louth and Horncastle (2015–present)[12][13]
- Suella Braverman, Home Secretary (2022, 2022–2023), Attorney General (2020–2022), MP for Fareham and Waterlooville (2024–present); Fareham (2015–2024) and September 2022 leadership candidate[14]
- Claire Coutinho, Shadow Energy Secretary (2024–present), Energy Secretary (2023–2024), MP for East Surrey (2019–present)[15]
- Kevin Hollinrake, Shadow Business Secretary (2024–present), MP for Thirsk and Malton (2015–present)[16]
- Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2024–present), Chancellor of the Exchequer (2022–2024), Foreign Secretary (2018–2019), MP for Godalming and Ash (2024–present, formerly South West Surrey, 2005–2024), 2019 and September 2022 leadership candidate[17]
- Laura Trott, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2024–present), Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2023–2024), MP for Sevenoaks (2019–present)[18][15]
Polling
changeDates conducted |
Pollster | Client | Sample size |
Kemi Badenoch |
James Cleverly | Robert Jenrick | Priti Patel | Mel Stride | Tom Tugendhat | Suella Braverman |
Jeremy Hunt |
Victoria Atkins | Esther McVey | Others | Don't know |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2–3 September 2024 | Conservative Home[a] | N/A | 863 | 34% | 11% | 18% | 7% | 2% | 13% | Did not run | – | 15% | |||
6–15 August 2024 | YouGov | N/A | 903 | 24% | 14% | 12% | 11% | 2% | 16% | Did not run | – | 19% | |||
2–12 August 2024 | Techne | James Cleverly | 805 | 14% | 26% | 10% | 20% | 4% | 11% | Did not run | – | 15% | |||
5–8 August 2024 | Conservative Home[a] | N/A | 917 | 33% | 10% | 19% | 8% | 2% | 10% | Did not run | – | 18% | |||
31 July–5 August 2024 | Popular Conservatism[b] | N/A | 468 | 23% | 5% | 24% | 21% | 2% | 3% | Did not run | – | 22% | |||
10–11 July 2024 | Conservative Home [a] | N/A | 995 | 26% | 9% | 13% | 3% | – | 13% | 10% | – | 2% | 1% | 7% | 16% |
July 2024 | YouGov[c] | QMUL and Sussex University | 725 | 31% | 10% | 7% | 6% | – | 15% | 16% | 12% | 2% | – | – | – |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The ConservativeHome Party Members' Survey is a self-selecting panel, not a demographically or geographically weighted poll. The panel is composed of over 3,300 members of the Conservative Party, who receive the survey by email.
- ↑ Sample of party members who responded to a survey issued by the right-wing Popular Conservatism group. The survey did not use an independent polling organisation.
- ↑ 'Don't know' and 'None' removed
Results
changeCandidate | MPs' 1st ballot: 4 September 2024[8] |
MPs' 2nd ballot: 10 September 2024[10] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | %[a] | Votes | ± | %[a] | |
Robert Jenrick | 28 | 23.7 | 33 | +5 | 27.7 |
Kemi Badenoch | 22 | 18.6 | 28 | +6 | 23.5 |
James Cleverly | 21 | 17.8 | 21 | 0 | 17.6 |
Tom Tugendhat | 17 | 14.4 | 21 | +4 | 17.6 |
Mel Stride | 16 | 13.6 | 16 | 0 | 13.4 |
Priti Patel | 14 | 11.9 | Eliminated | ||
Votes cast[b] | 118 | 97.5 | 119 | +1 | 98.3 |
Spoilt ballots | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Abstentions | 3 | 2.5 | 2 | -1 | 1.7 |
Registered voters | 121 | 100.0 | 0 | 121 | 100.0 |
Notes
changeReferences
change- ↑ Heale, James (2024-07-11). "Sunak apologises to Tory MPs for election mess". The Spectator. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Conservative party plans to unveil next leader in November". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
- ↑ Maidment, Jack (2024-07-24). "Politics latest news: Tory MP says he'll nominate Priti Patel as next party leader". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ "Kemi Badenoch enters Tory leadership race to replace Rishi Sunak". Sky News. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
- ↑ "James Cleverly running for Conservative leadership". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ Francis, Sam (25 July 2024). "Jenrick becomes third Tory leadership candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ↑ Rayner, Gordon (2024-07-27). "Priti Patel enters Tory leadership race promising to give members more say in policy". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Maidment, Jack (4 September 2024). "Robert Jenrick on top in first round of Tory leadership race as Priti Patel eliminated". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ↑ "Mel Stride to stand in Conservative leadership contest". The Guardian. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Mel Stride out as four left in Tory leadership contest". BBC News. 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ↑ "Tugendhat joins race to be next Tory leader". BBC News. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ Holl-Allen, Genevieve (2024-07-07). "Victoria Atkins pitches herself as unity candidate as Tory leadership race speculation rises". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ Martin, Daniel (2024-07-24). "Victoria Atkins: I am not running for Tory leader". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ "Suella Braverman pulls out of Tory leader contest with a parting shot". Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "The Conservative leadership race will be crowded, protracted and likely bitter". Politics.co. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ↑ "North Yorkshire MP fails in bid to stand for Tory leadership". York Press. 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ↑ Manancourt, Vincent (July 6, 2024). "Jeremy Hunt rules himself out of Tory leadership race". Politico. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ↑ "'We need someone to stop Farage': Tories begin leadership hunt for their saviour". inews. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.