Wikipedia

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]

2024 Conservative Party leadership election
← Oct 2022 4 September – 31 October 2024 (2024-09-04 – 2024-10-31)
 
Candidate Robert Jenrick Kemi Badenoch James Cleverly
First MPs' ballot 28 (23.7%) 22 (18.6%) 21 (17.8%)
Second MPs' ballot 33 (27.7%) 28 (23.5%) 21 (17.6%)
Third MPs' ballot — — —
 
Candidate Tom Tugendhat Mel Stride Priti Patel
First MPs' ballot 17 (14.4%) 16 (13.6%) 14 (11.9%)
Second MPs' ballot 21 (17.6%) 16 (13.4%) Eliminated
Third MPs' ballot — Eliminated Eliminated
Incumbent leader

Rishi Sunak


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

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Key dates
Date 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

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Announced

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The following have announced their leadership campaigns.

Candidate Constituency Current office Former offices Campaign Ref.
 
Kemi Badenoch 		MP for North West Essex (2024–present);
Saffron Walden (2017–2024) 		Shadow Housing and Communities Secretary (2024–present) Business Secretary (2023–2024)
Minister for Women and Equalities (2022–2024)
International Trade Secretary (2022–2023) 		  Website
(Campaign)
Announced:
28 July 2024 		[4]
 
James Cleverly 		MP for Braintree (2015–present) Shadow Home Secretary (2024–present) Home Secretary (2023–2024)
Foreign Secretary (2022–2023)
Education Secretary (2022)
Party Chair (2019–2020) 		 Website
Announced:
23 July 2024 		[5]
 
Robert Jenrick 		MP for Newark (2014–present) Backbencher Minister of State for Immigration (2022–2023)
Housing and Communities Secretary (2019–2021) 		 Website
Announced:
25 July 2024 		[6]
 
Priti Patel 		MP for Witham (2010–present) Backbencher Home Secretary (2019–2022)
International Development Secretary (2016–2017) 		 Website
Announced:
27 July 2024
Eliminated:
4 September 2024 		[7][8]
 
Mel Stride 		MP for Central Devon (2010–present) Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary (2024–present) Work and Pensions Secretary (2022–2024)
Chair of the Treasury Select Committee (2019–2022)
Leader of the House of Commons (2019) 		  Website
Announced:
26 July 2024
Eliminated:
10 September 2024 		[9][10]
 
Tom Tugendhat 		MP for Tonbridge (2024–present);
Tonbridge and Malling (2015–2024) 		Shadow Minister for Security (2024–present) Minister of State for Security (2022–2024)
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee (2017–2022) 		 Website
Announced:
24 July 2024 		[11]

Declined

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The following Conservative Party politicians were seen by commentators as possible candidates for the leadership but declined to stand:

Polling

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Dates
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. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 'Don't know' and 'None' removed

Results

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Candidate 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

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Percentage of voting electorate for candidates, percentage of total electorate for votes cast.
  2. ↑ Due to rounding errors the sum of percentages may deviate.

References

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  1. ↑ Heale, James (2024-07-11). "Sunak apologises to Tory MPs for election mess". The Spectator. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "Kemi Badenoch enters Tory leadership race to replace Rishi Sunak". Sky News. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  5. ↑ "James Cleverly running for Conservative leadership". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  6. ↑ Francis, Sam (25 July 2024). "Jenrick becomes third Tory leadership candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  7. ↑ 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. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "Mel Stride to stand in Conservative leadership contest". The Guardian. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Mel Stride out as four left in Tory leadership contest". BBC News. 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  11. ↑ "Tugendhat joins race to be next Tory leader". BBC News. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Martin, Daniel (2024-07-24). "Victoria Atkins: I am not running for Tory leader". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  14. ↑ "Suella Braverman pulls out of Tory leader contest with a parting shot". Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "The Conservative leadership race will be crowded, protracted and likely bitter". Politics.co. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  16. ↑ "North Yorkshire MP fails in bid to stand for Tory leadership". York Press. 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  17. ↑ Manancourt, Vincent (July 6, 2024). "Jeremy Hunt rules himself out of Tory leadership race". Politico. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  18. ↑ "'We need someone to stop Farage': Tories begin leadership hunt for their saviour". inews. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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