Runners and riders: Who will seek to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader?
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James Cleverly has become the first hopeful to publicly declare his candidacy in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party leader.
There will potentially be a crowded field in the contest as Mr Cleverly acknowledged he is not the only one giving it “serious thought” ahead of nominations opening on Wednesday evening.
Mr Sunak, who led the Tories to their worst general election result, will remain as leader until a successor is appointed.
The winner will be announced on November 2.
Here are the key contenders to watch:
– James Cleverly
The shadow home secretary is the first Tory formally to declare his ambition to succeed Mr Sunak.
Making his opening pitch, he said he could “unite the Conservative Party and overturn (Sir Keir) Starmer’s loveless landslide”.
The party needs to expand its base of support and shake off the impression that it is more focused on infighting than serving the public, he argued.
Mr Cleverly, a centrist, took an apparent swipe at the right of his party when he warned against “sacrificing pragmatic government in the national interest on the altar of ideological purity”.
In a social media video, he highlighted his credentials as having been both home and foreign secretary, as well as serving as party chairman when the Tories won their landslide in 2019.
Mr Cleverly was first elected as the Conservative MP for Braintree in May 2015.
After an injury cut short his Army career, he got a business degree and joined the Territorial Army. He worked in magazine and digital publishing before setting up his own business. He was a London Assembly member before he became an MP.
Mr Cleverly’s odds with both Ladbrokes and Betfair Exchange are 11/2.
– Kemi Badenoch
The shadow housing secretary is seen as a frontrunner among right-leaning factions and has left the door open to a tilt at the top job by saying “we will talk about leadership things after an election”.
The former business and trade secretary made a leadership attempt in 2022 after Boris Johnson’s resignation, coming fourth.
Ms Badeonoch first became an MP in 2017. She backed Brexit, and, as minister for women and equalities, made a name for herself as an outspoken voice on gender issues, including by calling for a change to the Equality Act so that sex is defined only as someone’s biological sex.
The North West Essex MP was born in Wimbledon, south-west London, but grew up in Nigeria and the US, returning to the UK at the age of 16. She has a Masters in engineering as well as being a Bachelor of Laws, and has worked at private bank Coutts and The Spectator.
Ms Badenoch has rejected calls for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to be welcomed into the Tory fold.
She has been an early favourite with bookmakers at 13/8 with Ladbrokes and 12/5 with Betfair Exchange.
– Suella Braverman
The former home secretary is widely expected to launch a bid to lead the party from the right and has warned that the Conservatives must not become “a collection of fanatical, irrelevant, centrist cranks”.
Ms Braverman, who has a track record of controversial opinions, also ran for the Tory leadership two years ago, coming sixth.
First elected as an MP in 2015, seld the Home Office brief under both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, who sacked her from the post over an article accusing the Metropolitan Police of bias in policing protests.
Ms Braverman, a barrister by trade, was previously attorney general for England and Wales under Boris Johnson and has also chaired the Eurosceptic European Research Group.
She has said she would welcome Reform UK’s Nigel Farage into the Conservative Party, saying: “There’s not much difference really between him and many of the policies that we stand for.”
Ladbrokes has Ms Braverman at 16/1 to succeed Mr Sunak, while she is 69/1 with Betfair Exchange.
– Dame Priti Patel
Dame Priti is a longstanding Eurosceptic who has said she was inspired to join the Conservative Party by Margaret Thatcher.
She became an MP in 2010 and served in Cabinet positions under Theresa May and Boris Johnson, as international development secretary and home secretary respectively.
Dame Priti was a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign, and as home secretary launched a points-based immigration system, signed the agreement with Rwanda to send asylum seekers to the country, and sealed returns deals with Albania and Serbia.
She resigned as home secretary after Liz Truss became Tory leader.
A prominent figure on the right, Dame Priti’s odds with Ladbrokes are 6/1, while Betfair Exchange has her at 11/1.
– Robert Jenrick
The former immigration minister last month denied he was firing the first shot in the race to replace Rishi Sunak when he wrote an opinion piece dubbed by The Mail on Sunday as him “effectively setting out his manifesto”.
Mr Jenrick used the article to say the Conservatives are the “natural home for Reform voters” and that former prime minister Boris Johnson “must always have a place” in the Tories, including in Parliament, should he wish to have one.
Nicknamed “Robert Generic” when first elected to the Commons in 2014, he has gradually moved to the right.
The MP for Newark resigned as a minister last December, claiming the then-draft legislation designed to revive the Rwanda deportation policy did “not go far enough”.
Betfair Exchange has Mr Jenrick at odds of 7/2, while he is 4/1 to become leader with Ladbrokes.
– Tom Tugendhat
The former security minister, who held on to his Tonbridge seat at the General Election, repeatedly refused to rule out launching a leadership bid while on the campaign trail.
He previously unsuccessfully ran in 2022, when he pitched himself as the candidate untarnished by the scandals that dogged Boris Johnson and his government.
He is seen as the most centrist of the candidates, meaning he could struggle to convince a more right-leaning Tory membership.
Having first entered Parliament in 2015, Mr Tugendhat chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee for five years and previously served in the military for a decade.
His odds are 9/2 with Betfair and 5/1 with Ladbrokes.
– Mel Stride
Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, one of Rishi Sunak’s closest allies, has said he is considering running after “a number of colleagues” urged him to stand.
The Central Devon MP is viewed as a safe pair of hands within the party and was frequently sent out to tour broadcast studios to defend Mr Sunak’s leadership during the disastrous General Election campaign.
First elected to Parliament in 2010, he hung on to his seat by just 61 votes.
He is seen as on the more moderate wing of the party.
Ladbrokes has Mr Stride at 28/1 for the leadership, while he is at 31/1 with Betfair Exchange.
– Who has ruled themselves out?
– Victoria Atkins
The former health secretary had previously left the door open for a leadership bid in the run-up to the General Election.
Ms Atkins, who held her Louth and Horncastle seat with a reduced majority, had been discussed as a contender from the more moderate wing of the party.
She was reportedly talked up by former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, in a leaked recording from December, as a “star” capable of leading the Tories.
But in a Telegraph article on Wednesday night she said: “I am flattered that many people in the House and beyond have asked me to stand, but it has never been my intention to run in this contest.”
– Jeremy Hunt
Having previously run for leader in 2019 and 2022, Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out of having a third go.
After surviving a scare to cling on to his Godalming and Ash seat at the General Election, the shadow chancellor told GB News the “time has passed” for a further attempt.
