Kemi Badenoch to lead Conservative Party.

[whole diary]

[grahame]

With 56.5% of the votes cast by party members, Kemi Badenoch is named as the new leader of the Conservative Party.

I have been following only from a distance, with little knowledge of the contenders or their politics.   But what she does and who she appoints as her lieutenants on transport and the environment will have some effect, perhaps a growing effect over coming years. And she may be our Prime Minister at some point.

Any candidate who goes through the processes to get into parliament and then to head his/her party has *something* about them - congratulations to her, and looking forward to her putting that *something* to good positive use in realms / areas she that are new to her. 

She represents North West Essex - previously Saffron Walden - in parliament.

[TaplowGreen]

I think it's the worst outcome for Labour. She's very impressive in the Commons although not without controversy.

I suspect she and whoever is appointed will be content to sit back and watch Haigh, Hendy etc tie themselves up in knots (ably assisted by ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) and the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) no doubt!).

They haven't made a particularly impressive start.

[JayMac]

She'll probably be around for a while. The Conservatives need calm after years of internecine war. Whether she'll provide effective opposition will depend on whether the party gets behind her, her top team choices, political direction and future manifesto.

Regarding her top team choices, she'd do well to promote new blood and avoid any of the former ministers that survived the election. May be a thin talent pool though.

She could also be another William Hague. Useful in opposition but unable to win at the general election.

[ChrisB]

Hmmm. She has already stated that she'll be offering all those who took part in the contest a position in cabinet. Hence James Cleverley counting himself out yesterday.

She knows that she has to go after those voters who defected to Reform, so is likely to have right-of-Tory traditional value policies in order to win them back.

For which reason I give her zero chance of winning an election & becoming our first black PM. Likely to be gone before the next election of this Parliament goes full term, IMO^▸ ('in my opinion')

[broadgage]

Non news in my view, unless something most improbable happens, a general election is extremely unlikely until the present government has served a full term.
And it seems unlikely that Badenoch will still be leading the party by then.

[Electric train]

Lets face it the Leader of HM Opposition is in a weak position in Parliament, some would say almost irrelevant.   I do not doubt her abilities and capabilities as a politician, the real challenge is for her to unify and rebuild the Conservative party to make it a viable opponent for the next General Election that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) electorate will vote for

[Bob_Blakey]

.....almost irrelevant.....

unless she proves herself capable of fundamentally changing the current mindset of the Conservative party which seems to believe that sleaze & rule breaking, lying to the electorate, and talking a lot but not actually doing anything is OK.

[grahame]

And Gareth Bacon as shadow minister of transport - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgv7pj4vd2o
MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) for Orpington