The 2024 Conservative Party leadership election was announced on 5 July 2024 when then-

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

declared his intention to resign as Conservative Party leader following the party's defeat at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

. The leadership race commenced on 24 July and concluded on 31 October. On 2 November,

Kemi Badenoch Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (' Adegoke; born 2 January 1980) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservati ...

was announced as the winner of the members' ballot, becoming the first

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

leader of any major UK political party, the fourth female Conservative leader and the second consecutive Conservative leader to be non-White. Six candidates stood for the leadership: Kemi Badenoch,

James Cleverly Sir James Spencer Cleverly (born 4 September 1969) is a British politician and Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve Commissioned officer, officer who served as Home Secretary from November 2023 to July 2024 and as Foreign Secretary (Unit ...

Robert Jenrick Robert Edward Jenrick (born 9 January 1982) is a British politician who has been Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor since November 2024. He served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Immigration from 2022 to ...

Priti Patel Dame Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secr ...

Mel Stride Sir Melvyn John Stride (born 30 September 1961) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in Kemi Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet since November 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of ...

and

Tom Tugendhat Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (born 27 June 1973) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (UK), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge (UK Parliament constituency), Tonbridge, previously Tonbridge and Malling (UK Parliamen ...

. Four were eliminated in a series of votes, until two remained to stand in the final ballot, which Conservative Party members voted in. On 4 September, Patel was eliminated in the first round of voting, with Jenrick outperforming expectations by coming first. On 10 September, Stride was eliminated in the second round and went on to endorse Cleverly. Following a strong performance at the

Conservative Party Conference The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year in October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is ...

, Cleverly emerged as a frontrunner by coming first in the third round of voting, whilst Tugendhat was eliminated. Despite this, Cleverly was unexpectedly eliminated in a close fourth round of voting, leaving Badenoch and Jenrick to go head-to-head in a members' vote. Badenoch won the head-to-head and was elected Conservative leader on 2 November 2024, becoming the first black-Briton to lead a major party. Stride, Patel and Jenrick would all be appointed to her shadow cabinet.

Background

July 2022 leadership election and Liz Truss's premiership

On 7 July 2022,

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

resigned as Conservative leader and Prime Minister after dozens of ministers resigned from his government following a slew of scandals and controversies, including

Partygate Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about gatherings of Government of the United Kingdom, government and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandem ...

, that marred the final few months of his premiership, culminating in the

Chris Pincher scandal The Chris Pincher scandal was a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual assault and misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's ...

. A

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a ...

was triggered to replace him, in which

and

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

were the final two candidates to be put forward to party members after a series of MPs' ballots. Truss won the contest, beating Sunak in the members' vote 57% to 43%. She assumed leadership of the party on 5 September 2022, and became Prime Minister the following day. Truss' premiership would turn out to be the shortest of any Prime Minister in history, lasting just 49 days. Truss' tenure oversaw the

death and state funeral of Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the List of monarchs in Britain by length of ...

, which caused government business to be suspended during the 10-day

national mourning A national day of mourning is a day, or one of several days, marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the deat ...

period from 8–19 September. On 23 September 2022, in response to the

cost-of-living crisis A cost-of-living crisis refers to a socioeconomic situation or period of high inflation where nominal wages have stagnated while there is a sharp increase in the cost of basic goods, such as food, housing, and energy. As a result, living standar ...

, Truss'

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Kwasi Kwarteng Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British politician who served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from September to October 2022 under Liz Truss and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 202 ...

announced a ' mini-budget', which introduced large-scale tax cuts and borrowing. It caused the value of

pound sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...

to crash, sliding to an all-time low against the

US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

. The mini-budget was widely criticised and its policies were gradually reversed over the following three weeks. The Conservatives' opinion poll ratings also began to fall sharply in the weeks following the announcement, dipping to around 20% as they trailed Labour by over 30% in some polls. Truss dismissed Kwarteng without explanation on 14 October 2022 and replaced him with

Jeremy Hunt Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...

. By 17 October, pressure was beginning to mount on Truss' premiership and five Conservative MPs were calling for her resignation. On 19 October, Home Secretary

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes; born 3 April 1980) is a British politician and barrister who served as Home Secretary from 6 September 2022 to 19 October 2022, and again from 25 October 2022 to 13 November 2023. A ...

resigned after admitting to having used her personal email address to send a Cabinet document and her resignation letter was highly critical of Truss' government. Later that evening, a parliamentary vote on a debate to ban

fracking Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, fracing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure inje ...

— which was opposed by the government — descended into chaos over confusion whether it was being treated as a confidence vote in the government, compounded by speculation that the chief whip and deputy chief whip had resigned, and by allegations, later refuted, that some Conservative MPs had been manhandled in the division lobby. On 20 October, the following day, Truss announced she would resign as Prime Minister and Conservative leader shortly, triggering a second leadership election to find her replacement.

October 2022 leadership election and Rishi Sunak's premiership

The timetable for the October 2022 leadership election was much shorter than the July one. An expedited process was set out; candidates were required to obtain 100 nominations from fellow Conservative MPs before 2pm on 24 October, and an MPs' ballot followed by an online members' ballot was to be held shortly thereafter if more than one candidate received more than 100 nominations. Only two candidates announced their intention to stand: Sunak and

Penny Mordaunt Dame Penelope Mary "Penny" Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from 2022 until 2024. She was the Memb ...

. There was intensive speculation that Johnson would initiate a bid for a return to the top post; at one point he was expected to stand and even received 62 nominations from MPs, but he subsequently declined to enter the race. As only Sunak met the required threshold among MPs, receiving 197 nominations to Mordaunt's 27, Mordaunt withdrew from the leadership race two minutes before nominations closed and Sunak was left the only candidate remaining, enabling him to win the contest and become Conservative leader without an MPs' ballot or members' vote. Sunak became Prime Minister the next day, on 25 October. In his first speech as Prime Minister, Sunak said that Truss "was not wrong" to want to improve growth and that he "admired her restlessness to create change", but admitted that " some mistakes were made", and that he was elected prime minister in part to fix them. He promised to "place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda". In an almost immediate reversal of Truss' policy, Sunak reinstated the ban on

on 26 October 2022 as outlined in the 2019 Conservative manifesto. Sunak was faced with the task of rebuilding the Conservatives' reputation which had been significantly damaged by the controversies and scandals of the previous year and the

Truss ministry The Truss ministry began on 6 September 2022 when Liz Truss was invited by Queen Elizabeth II—two days before the monarch's death—to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Johnson had resigned as leader of the ...

. While their poll ratings recovered slightly over the following months, it still wasn't enough to bring them back to pre-Truss levels. Sunak contested his first

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

as leader on 4 May 2023, where the Conservatives suffered heavy losses. Two months later, on 20 July 2023, they lost two seats in by-elections;

one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

to Labour and

to the Liberal Democrats. Their fortunes remained unchanged throughout policy changes of the following year, such as the shelving of the

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre – in southern Staffordshire – and London, with a branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain ...

northern phase in October. The Conservatives lost two further seats in by-elections on 15 February 2024. In March 2024, there were suggestions that Sunak could face a leadership challenge before the upcoming

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

— which was expected within the calendar year — if the Conservatives perform poorly at the

on 2 May. Sunak however said he would resist a challenge, even if that ends up being the case. As predicted, 2 May saw grim showing for the Conservatives, who suffered their worst local election results since

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Additionally, they lost another seat to Labour in the

Blackpool South by-election A by-election took place on 2 May 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Blackpool South, the same day as local elections in England and Wales. The by-election followed the resignation of incumbent MP Scott Benton. Benton had been suspend ...

, and narrowly lost the West Midlands mayoral election in a knife-edge vote. Sunak's premiership was described as more stable than that of his two predecessors, while still not being able to represent a turnaround for the Conservatives.

2024 general election

On 22 May 2024, in a surprise announcement, Sunak called a

for 4 July. Labour won the general election in a landslide, ending 14 years of Conservative government. Sunak conceded the election at 4:40 am on 5 July. The Conservatives experienced the largest defeat in its history, being reduced to 121 seats on a vote share of 23.7 per cent. It lost 244 seats, including those of twelve Cabinet ministers and that of former Prime Minister Truss. It also lost all its seats in Wales. Subsequently, Sunak said in his final speech as Prime Minister that he would resign as leader of the party once a successor was elected.

Campaign

In early July, shortly after the general election, reports suggested that

Danny Kruger Daniel Rayne Kruger (born 23 October 1974) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Wiltshire, previously Devizes, since 2019. He became Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for ...

and John Hayes, prominent MPs on the right of the party, were going to support the prospective leadership candidate

. This was seen as an early setback for

, since both Kruger and Hayes previously campaigned for her bid to succeed Boris Johnson in July 2022. The '' i'' reported that following Braverman's controversial speeches regarding the

pride flag A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBTQ community. ''Pride'' in this case refers to the notion of LGBTQ pride. The terms ''LGBTQ flag'' and ''queer flag'' are often used interchangeably. Pride flags can represen ...

, multiple Conservative MPs believed she had lost her support among her colleagues and could defect to

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

. Sources in both parties suggested Braverman was expected to defect, potentially following the Conservative leadership election if she doesn't win. Braverman did not stand, but said she could have surpassed the ten MP threshold to do so.

and

were the confirmed candidates at the deadline of nominations on 29 July. Tugendhat and Cleverly were pitching themselves as more moderate, centre-ground candidates, while Badenoch, Jenrick and Patel were competing for the vote of the party's right-wing, and Stride is seen as being between the two groupings.

Bob Blackman Robert John Blackman Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP (born 26 April 1956) is a British politician who has been the chairman of the 1922 Committee and chair of the Backbench Business Committee since 2024. A member of the Conservative ...

1922 Committee The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, or sometimes simply the 22, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party in the British House of Commons of the United Kingdom, H ...

chair, announced that he would give out formal warnings, or "yellow cards", if they briefed against their rivals.

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. (; derived from the Latin expression, ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publ ...

reported that there was widespread apathy around the election, with 62% of people saying that they did not personally care who became the leader. Cleverly's elimination in the final MPs' ballot surprised many. It was speculated that some of Cleverly's supporters had voted for other candidates, presuming Cleverly would be safe, in order to pick an easier rival against him in the members' vote, ''i.e.'' a failure of

tactical voting Strategic or tactical voting is voting in consideration of possible ballots cast by other voters in order to maximize one's satisfaction with the election's results. Gibbard's theorem shows that no voting system has a single "always-best" stra ...

. As of the end of the campaign, Jenrick raised £480,000 towards his campaign, while Badenoch raised £422,500.

Schedule

The elected chair of the

, suggested prior to the election that the party must take its time in choosing a leader. Following the election, he said that he expected Sunak would not be the leader by the

, which was held at the end of September. The 1922 Committee met to decide the schedule of the election on the 22 July. The leadership race is expected to last for a little over three months with Sunak's successor being confirmed on 2 November. The timetable of key dates is in the table below. Conservative Party Conference will act as a 'beauty parade' for the remaining candidates. In addition to the voting timetable below, the Conservatives "pay to play" rules required the final four candidates, as decided by Conservative MPs on 10 September, to pay £50,000 to CCHQ. Following the last round of MPs voting, the final two candidates were required to pay another £150,000 to the central party headquarters.

Timetable

Candidates

In June 2024, during the campaign for the 2024 general election, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that leadership hopefuls were already lobbying for support from MP candidates for a potential upcoming leadership election, which was seen as likely given that opinion polls showed the Conservatives on course for a heavy defeat. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' also reported that both

and

registered website domains for a leadership campaign. As Mordaunt lost her seat in the general election, her prospective campaign never came to fruition; the Conservative Party constitution states that the leader of the party must be a Member of Parliament. Despite press speculation that former leader Boris Johnson might make another attempt to return to the position, this requirement likewise prevented him from doing so, as Johnson had not been an MP since June 2023.

Candidates who declared

The following candidates declared leadership campaigns.

Explored

The following Conservative Party politicians explored a run but ultimately declined to stand or failed to receive the ten required nominations: *

Victoria Atkins Victoria Mary Atkins (born 22 March 1976) is a British politician who served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak between 2017 and 2024, lastly as Secretary of State for Health and S ...

Shadow Health Secretary A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensional ...

(2024–present), Health Secretary (2023–2024), MP for Louth and Horncastle (2015–present) (''endorsed Jenrick'') *

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

(2022, 2022–2023),

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

(2020–2022), MP for

Fareham and Waterlooville Fareham and Waterlooville is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It was first contested in the 2024 general election and is currently represented by Suella Braverman of the Conservative Party. Boundaries Under the 20 ...

(2024–present);

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

(2015–2024) (''endorsed Jenrick'') *

Kevin Hollinrake Kevin Paul Hollinrake (born 28 September 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and businessman who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk and Malton since 2015. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Levellin ...

, Shadow Business Secretary (2024–present), MP for

Thirsk and Malton Thirsk and Malton is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom general el ...

(2015–present) (''endorsed Badenoch'')

Potential candidates prior to the election

The following figures lost their seats in the 2024 general election and were ineligible to stand, but were discussed as potential candidates prior to electoral results. * Steve Baker,

Minister of State for Northern Ireland The role of Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently vacant, after the 2024 general election. The role is also known as Deputy Secretary of State for ...

(2022–2024), MP for Wycombe (2010–2024) (''endorsed Tugendhat then Badenoch'') *

Miriam Cates Miriam Joy Cates (born 23 August 1982) is a British politician who was the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Penistone and Stocksbridge (UK Parliament constituency), Penis ...

, Co-chair of the New Conservatives (2023–2024), MP for

Penistone and Stocksbridge Penistone and Stocksbridge is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in South Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Par ...

(2019–2024) (''endorsed Jenrick'') *

Lucy Frazer Lucy Claire Frazer (born 17 May 1972) is a British politician and barrister who served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from February 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as the Member of Parli ...

Culture Secretary The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Cultu ...

(2023–2024), MP for

South East Cambridgeshire South East Cambridgeshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 to 2024 by Lucy Frazer, a member of the Conservative Party who has served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 20 ...

(2015–2024) *

Gillian Keegan Gillian Keegan (née Gibson; born 13 March 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2022 to 2024. She previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills from 2020 to ...

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

(2022–2024), MP for

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

(2017–2024) *

Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lor ...

and

Leader of the House of Commons The Leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Leader is always a memb ...

(2022–2024), MP for Portsmouth North (2010–2024) *

Grant Shapps Sir Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024. Shapps previously served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, cabinet posts, including Chairman of ...

Defence Secretary A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

(2023–2024), MP for

Welwyn Hatfield Welwyn Hatfield is a local government district with borough status in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Welwyn Garden City. The borough borders Hertsmere, St Albans, North Hertfordshire, East Hertfordshire, Broxbour ...

(2005–2024) (''endorsed Cleverly'') *

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

(2022), MP for

South West Norfolk South West Norfolk is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 by Terr ...

(2010–2024)

Declined

The following were suggested by commentators as potential candidates for the leadership but declined to stand: * Andrew Bowie, Shadow Minister for Veterans (2024–present), Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Net Zero (2023–2024), MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (2017–present) (''endorsed Badenoch'') *

Claire Coutinho Claire Coryl Julia Coutinho (; born 8 July 1985) is a British politician and former investment banker who has been Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and Shadow Minister for Equalities since 2024. A member of the Cons ...

, Shadow Energy Secretary (2024–present), Energy Secretary (2023–2024), MP for

East Surrey East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative who formerly served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The seat covers an affluent area in t ...

(2019–present) (''endorsed Badenoch'') * David Davis,

Brexit Secretary The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union or, informally, Brexit Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the business of the Department for Exiting the European Union, as well ...

(2016–2018),

Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...

(2003–2008), MP for

Goole and Pocklington Goole and Pocklington is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. Its Member ...

(2024–present, formerly Haltemprice and Howden and Boothferry 1987–2024) (''endorsed Badenoch'') *

Oliver Dowden Sir Oliver James Dowden, (born 1 August 1978) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously held various ministerial positions under Prime ...

Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a position in the United Kingdom's Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet that was created on 6 December 2005 by the then-Leader of the Opposition (United Ki ...

(2024),

Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom is an honorific title given to a minister of the Crown and a member of the British Cabinet, normally to signify a very senior minister, the deputy leader of the governing party, or a key political ...

(2023–2024), MP for

Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough contains several fi ...

(2015–present) *

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Le ...

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and P ...

(2010–2016), Leader of the Conservative Party (2001–2003), MP for Chingford and Woodford Green (1997–present, formerly

Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...

1992–1997) (''endorsed Badenoch'') *

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer The shadow chancellor of the exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer, chancellor of ...

(2024–present),

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

(2022–2024), Foreign Secretary (2018–2019), MP for

Godalming and Ash Godalming and Ash ( ) is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament that was first contested at the 2024 general election. It was created as a result of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies. The constituency ...

(2024–present, formerly

South West Surrey South West Surrey was a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. From its 1983 creation, South West Surrey was represented only by members of the Conservative Party. From 2005, the seat's MP was Jeremy Hunt, who served as chanc ...

, 2005–2024) * Laura Trott,

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury The shadow chief secretary to the treasury is the most junior member of the Shadow Cabinet, and is the deputy to the shadow chancellor of the exchequer. The shadow chief secretary to the treasury acts as the primary opposition to the equivalent ...

(2024–present),

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is a senior ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom and is the second most senior ministerial office in HM Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The office holder is always a full ...

(2023–2024), MP for

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

(2019–present) (''endorsed Badenoch'')

Endorsements

Opinion polling

Conservative party members

;Multi-candidate polling ;Head-to-head ;Top candidates polling

2019 Conservative voters

;Multi-candidate polling

General public

National polling under potential leaders

Electoral Calculus conducted a

multilevel regression with poststratification Multilevel regression with poststratification (MRP) is a statistical technique used for correcting model estimates for known differences between a sample population (the population of the data one has), and a target population (a population one ...

(MRP) opinion poll from 11 to 15 October 2024 on behalf of Jack Lewy of the Robert Jenrick campaign, asking the general public how they would vote if respectively Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick were elected leader of the Conservatives. The results showed that Jenrick would perform slightly better in a general election than Badenoch. ;Multi-candidate polling

Results

Incumbent leader Rishi Sunak did not vote in the ballots.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservative Party leadership election, 2024 2024 elections in the United Kingdom 2024 political party leadership elections 2024 in the United Kingdom

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Rishi Sunak Kemi Badenoch