Yahoo News The runners and riders to replace Rishi Sunak
The Conservative Party has suffered a record defeat in the general election, with Keir Starmer set to be the next prime minister.
Rishi Sunak has apologised for the historic result, and is expected to resign when he delivers another speech later today upon leaving No 10.
The prime minister said in his concession speech: “I will now head down to London where I will say more about tonight’s vote before I leave the job of Prime Minister to which I have given my all.
“I will then return here to my family’s home and I look forward to spending more time with you all in the weeks, months and years ahead.”
Here, The Telegraph takes a look at some of the potential contenders to replace him.
Kemi Badenoch
Business Secretary, North West Essex
Mrs Badenoch is the current bookies’ favourite to be the next Tory leader after retaining her seat in North West Essex. She also had the highest net satisfaction rating of any Cabinet minister among readers of the influential Conservative Home website in May. She may be well placed in Westminster, after several Tory “big beasts” and some of her closest competitors lost their seats in the general election.
Suella Braverman
Former Home Secretary, Fareham and Waterlooville
Defying the polls to win re-election, Ms Braverman remains popular with the Tory base, who admire her tough stance on illegal migration. The former home secretary said the party needed to rediscover its “soul” and move back to the Right if it was to reconnect with voters.
James Cleverly
Home Secretary, Braintree
Having served as education secretary, foreign secretary, and Home Secretary, Mr Cleverly is one of the Cabinet’s more experienced pairs of hands, though he ranked only 14th among ministers in ConservativeHome’s poll in May. He was one of the members of the Tory cabinet who managed to keep hold of his seat on election day.
Priti Patel
Former Home Secretary, Witham
Tipped as a grassroots favourite, Ms Patel was recently urged by supporters to stand for the Tory leadership if the party was defeated at the election. Friends said she had not ruled out the possibility of standing but was focused on retaining her Witham constituency in Essex, which she succeeded into holding with a majority of around 5,000 votes.
David Cameron
Former Prime Minister, Member of the House of Lords
The Foreign Secretary, could technically make a dramatic return as Tory leader, given that there is no requirement for the head of the official opposition (or indeed any opposition party) to hold a seat in the House of Commons. However, such a move would be unprecedented in modern times. The former premier may also pay heed to the fact that he had a negative approval rating with Conservative Home readers in May.
Nigel Farage
Leader of Reform UK, Clacton
Mr Farage did his best to unseat as many Tory (and Labour) MPs as possible, presumably making him rather unpopular with the Conservative base. But some have speculated he could take the reins from Mr Sunak by defecting from inside Westminster.
Boris Johnson
Former Prime Minister, Not currently an MP
Could Mr Johnson be the Tories’ once and future king? He is no longer an MP, having given up his seat in June last year and opted not to run again. But, like Lord Cameron, he could technically lead from outside Westminster.
Contenders who were ousted
Penny Mordaunt
Leader of the House of Commons, Portsmouth North
Penny Mordaunt, the Commons Leader, ended up losing her seat by fewer than 1,000 votes.
She had been tipped as a contender after coming third in the 2022 leadership contest, and represented the Tories in two recent TV debates.
Ms Mordaunt had boosted her popularity and her name recognition with her prominent ceremonial role at last year’s Coronation.
Steve Baker
Minister for Northern Ireland, Wycombe
Tory minister Steve Baker lost Wycombe to Labour candidate Emma Reynolds.
Mr Baker had indicated that he would put his name forward if he had retained his seat, where he has a majority of just 4,214, on July 4.
He was previously a senior Tory backbencher, chairing the European Research Group (ERG) of Brexiteer MPs twice during the run up to Britain’s formal departure from the European Union on January 31 2020.
