Potential Tory leadership contenders already have websites registered

Websites backing potential Conservative leadership contenders have been registered ahead of the race to take over from Rishi Sunak if the party loses the general election.

Domains that match the names of likely contenders have been created or updated in recent months, with some redirecting to Conservative campaign material.

‌On Sunday, Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, refused to rule out a tilt at the leadership should Rishi Sunak resign after an election defeat, but added that premature speculation was “disrespectful” to the Prime Minister.

She is seen as one of the front-runners to succeed Mr Sunak, and the domain name kemi4leader.com, which redirects to the Conservative Party homepage, was registered in West Yorkshire on April 18.

A separate website, backingbadenoch.co.uk, was last updated on June 27 and is thought to be a grassroots effort with an accompanying active social media presence.‌ A web page used for her leadership attempt in 2022, kemiforprimeminister.com, no longer exists.

Suella Braverman set up the suella4leader.co.uk website to promote her campaign in 2022. The website was last updated on June 10 and sends users directly to her personal website.

Mrs Braverman and Mrs Badenoch are understood to deny that the websites in their current form had anything to do with them or their team. Mrs Braverman is understood to have not used the website since the 2022 leadership campaign.

Penny Mordaunt, the Commons Leader, is seen as a serious contender for the leadership, having reached the final three last time around.

Her website, pm4pm.com, used during her last leadership campaign, was last updated on the day of the local elections in May and now redirects to her personal website. It is understood the website was renewed so the domain could be kept live rather than as an active leadership challenge.

A social media account, Penny Mordaunt for PM, describes itself as a “grassroots campaign” and has been kept reasonably active.

Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, also refused to rule out running in an interview with The Sun on Sunday. He said: “Let’s see what happens.”

Last week it was revealed that Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland minister, wanted to throw his hat into the ring should he keep his seat.

Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, also did not rule out putting his name forward, having previously told Times Radio: “We’ll deal with hypotheticals in a different way.”