Tory leader race: The 6 hopefuls trying to save their party from the abyss

LONDON — It’s a poisoned chalice, but someone has to grasp it. 

Rishi Sunak’s decision to step down following this month’s crushing general election defeat for the U.K. Conservative Party means another Tory leadership election is upon us — the third in the space of two years. 

With just 121 Tory members of parliament returned to Westminster, the options facing parliamentarians are limited — and there’s no guarantee the winner will ever walk into No.10 Downing Street.

Nominations closed Wednesday lunchtime, and that means a summer of wooing colleagues and members — while tearing chunks out of rivals — is now properly underway. So how will it work and who fancies their chances? Here’s POLITICO’s cut-out-and-keep guide.

What’s the timeline?

With nominations closed, Tory MPs will now whittle down the contenders to a final four via a series of ballots taking place in September.

The four remaining hopefuls then get to present their case at the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham at the end of September. 

MPs will then select the final two candidates, who will be put to an online vote of Tory members which runs until October 31.

The winner is announced on November 2, just days before the U.S. presidential election.

Who’s running?

Kemi Badenoch 

The contest is widely seen as Badenoch’s to lose. The former business and trade secretary joined the leadership race Sunday evening, warning her party things “could get much worse” after their election rout. 

In a characteristically punchy intervention, Badenoch declared that Tories deserved to lose as people watched the party “twist and turn in the wind, unsure of who we were, what we were for and how we could build a new country.”

While many other candidates have stressed uniting the party, Badenoch has argued this is not enough. “What are we uniting around? What are we winning for?” she wrote in the Times. The Tories’ pitch was, she said, “incoherent” and she accused its leading lights of being unable to articulate “why conservatism should matter to our fellow man.”

The contest is widely seen as Kemi Badenoch’s to lose. | Leon Neal/Getty Images

It’s not Badenoch’s first go at the top job. She ran for the leadership in 2022 after Boris Johnson’s dramatic ouster by his colleagues, but came in fourth. Seen to be on the right of the party, the North West Essex MP’s combative approach has made her many enemies, something a Tory leadership contender usually needs to avoid at all costs. 

Notable backers: Former Energy Minister Andrew Bowie … former Science Minister Andrew Griffith.

James Cleverly

The shadow home secretary was first out of the traps, announcing his bid in the Telegraph, the bible for Tory members. Cleverly claims he can “unite” the party and overturn “[Keir] Starmer’s loveless landslide” by bringing “broad appeal.” 

Policy-wise, he advocates spending 3 percent of GDP on defense and building more homes in denser areas. A campaign video on X saw Cleverly highlight his record in office and offer a personal touch by returning to his childhood home.

He is an experienced Cabinet minister, previously serving as home secretary, foreign secretary and Tory Party chairman. Regarded as one of the better communicators in the shadow Cabinet, Cleverly batted for the Tories in the “spin room” during the election debates and is one of the more centrist contenders. Cleverly has not denied allegations he called the Tories Rwanda deportation policy “bats**t” — despite its popularity with party members — and has a reputation for making unfortunate comments, something which could hinder his chances. 

Notable backers: New Tory MP Peter Fortune … Shadow Education Minister Gagan Mohindra … former Armed Forces Minister James Heappey … North Dorset MP Simon Hoare.

Robert Jenrick

Former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has promised to try and win back voters from Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K.

Jenrick is running for the top job for the first time, and will be buoyed by holding his Nottinghamshire seat of Newark at the election. But he’s been in campaign mode for month. 

Dubbed “Robert Generic” when first elected to parliament in 2014 and a firm ally of Sunak during the former PM’s rise to the top, he gradually shifted to the right, resigning as immigration minister last year because the government’s now-axed Rwanda scheme for deporting asylum-seekers “does not go far enough.” 

His campaign is being run by Danny Kruger, an MP firmly on the Conservative right. Much was made of Jenrick’s “Caesar” haircut and weight loss after he left government.

Notable backers: East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger … Common Sense Group Chair John Hayes … Shadow Health Minister Caroline Johnson … MP for the Wrekin Mark Pritchard.

Priti Patel

The former home secretary under Boris Johnson has pledged to unite the party and avoid a “soap opera of finger-pointing and self-indulgence.” Patel has built her campaign around the party’s “heroic members,” stressing they did nothing wrong during the election but that the politicians instead “fell out with each other.” Writing for ( here’s a surprise) the Telegraph, Patel emphasized her work at the Home Office and argued GDP should not be the sole measure of economic success.

To try and woo the members, whose “loyalty and dedication” she marveled at, the backbench Essex MP pledged to give them a “much greater voice and role” in policy making, offering a democratically elected party chairman. Internally, Patel emphasized the need for rebuttal units and professional party agents to help win seats. 

Having spent the last two years on the backbenches, Patel is dubbed a “dark horse” of the campaign who can keep the right wing on side while potentially winning over One Nation centrist MPs averse to a harder-right option. 

Priti Patel has built her campaign around the party’s “heroic members,” stressing they did nothing wrong during the election but that the politicians instead “fell out with each other.” | Carl Court/Getty Images

Though she literally danced with Farage at Conservative Party Conference last year, allies were quick to make clear she would not allow him to rejoin the Tories.

Notable backers: MP for Wetherby and Easingwold Alec Shelbrooke … Former Tech Minister Saqib Bhatti … new Tory MP Andrew Snowden.

Tom Tugendhat

The former security minister and foreign affairs expert ame fifth when he ran for the leadership in 2022 and is broadly seen as being on the one-nation centrist wing of his party. However — as he tries to win over the right of his party — Tugendhat has already promised (vaguely) that he would be prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. 

“Politics, like life, comes down to one simple rule: keep your promises. When the Conservative Party does that, it wins,” he wrote in the Telegraph.

Tugendhat served in the military for 10 years. He entered parliament in 2015, and spent five years chairing the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. He’s unlikely to favor any kind of alliance with Farage, accusing the Reform UK leader of “playing straight into the hands of the Kremlin” by suggesting the West provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

Notable backers: Former One Nation Tories Chair Damian Green and former Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker (who penned a joint Telegraph article) … former Tory Chairman Jake Berry … former Tory MP Sara Britcliffe — although all four lost their seats at the election. They’re joined by West Suffolk MP and former Downing Street Chief of Staff Nick Timothy.

Mel Stride

The former work and pensions secretary joined the race Friday morning as a somewhat unexpected addition to the leadership battle. 

Stride has the required 10 nominations and says he could help the Conservatives recover from their “very, very difficult place.”

He became a familiar figure during the election campaign on the morning media rounds, using his frequent appearances as a strength. Stride first entered parliament in 2010 and chaired the Treasury select committee for three years, which he said would help him hold Labour to account on the economy. 

Viewed as a more centrist contender, Stride is pitching himself as a unifying figure who can stop the party descend into (more) infighting. His chances of success could be hampered due to only holding his Central Devon seat by 61 votes, meaning he’ll face a serious electoral threat from Labour next time round.

Notable backers: Former Science Minister George Freeman … Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier … New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne.

Who’s keeping out of it?

Suella Braverman

The ex-home secretary would have been the most right-wing of any candidate. She’s called for Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, announced her support for Donald Trump and argued Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage should be allowed to join the Tories.

All that, it seems, was a step too far for the remaining Tory MPs.

Suella Braverman, the ex-home secretary, would have been the most right-wing of any candidate. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

As the deadline for nominations loomed, the former home secretary announced Sunday evening she would not be joining the leadership race. Braverman claimed she had been “vilified by some colleagues” for explaining why the party lost, and said its election defeat was “predicted, preventable, deserved and, as yet, unaddressed.”

Braverman claims she had the necessary 10 MPs to get on the ballot, but stressed there was no point in leading when most colleagues “disagree with my diagnosis and prescription.” 

Jeremy Hunt 

The shadow chancellor has already had two shots at the leadership in 2019 and 2022, coming second to Boris Johnson back in 2019. After narrowly holding his Surrey seat of Godalming and Ash, Hunt said he did not think it was third time lucky: “No … that time has passed,” he told GB News.

Victoria Atkins

The former health secretary was considered an outside bet for the top Tory job — but she ruled herself out in, you’ve guessed it, the Telegraph.

She tweeted that she instead wants to help the next leader to “rebuild and renew” the party.

Boris Johnson

No Tory leadership race would be complete without mentioning the former PM. While Johnson did wear the crown as prime minister from 2019 to 2022, he’s no longer in parliament, which makes a bid tricky. The rapturous reception he received at a Tory rally just before polling day shows there is still lots of support for him as a king over the water.

Defeated Tories

No Tory who lost their seat at the election can stand to be leader — for now. Numerous big beasts including former Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt (who twice ran for the leadership), ex-Defense Secretary Grant Shapps and former Transport Secretary Mark Harper were all defeated. Until they find a constituency to stand in, perhaps in a convenient by-election, they’ll just be a voter in the race rather than a participant.