North West Essex MP Kemi Badenoch throws hat into the ring to become the next leader of the Conservative Party

Conservative MP for North West Essex Kemi Badenoch has launched her bid to become the next leader of the Tory party.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who represents the formerly named Saffron Walden constituency, threw her hat into the ring on Sunday (July 28) as she announced she would be standing against five other party hopefuls in the race to replace former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Ms Badenoch narrowly held onto her seat at the General Election earlier this month after seeing her majority slashed by almost 25,000 votes from 27,594 to just 2,610, with Labour’s Issy Waite a close second. She was first voted in as the area’s MP back in 2017, replacing the outgoing Sir Alan Haselhurst.

In launching her Renewal 2030 campaign she said her focus was on “renewing the movement” following the party’s historic defeat at the polls which saw Labour claim a landslide victory.

On her campaign website she said: “If elected to serve as your leader, my first priority will be to fight for Conservatism again.” She pledged a party that would be ‘straight-talking and effective’.

“We are ambitious for our country, but we will earn the respect of voters by clearly saying what we will do and then actually doing it.

“We will not mindlessly oppose Labour, but we know that Westminster politics is exhausted, out of ideas and is unlikely to work; we are ready to do things differently to the tired, stale status quo.

“It is for the next generation to step forward and deal with the problems of today – and create a brighter future for tomorrow. We are custodians of a great political tradition; we seek to conserve what is best, improve on what works and leave a lasting, better inheritance for our children.”

The former Business and Trade Secretary and minister for women and equalities said the Conservative Party needed to concentrate on "doing some things well, not everything badly" in order to recover from its worst-ever election result - which left them with just 121 MPs.

The 44-year-old mother of three has been the bookies’ favourite to become the next Tory leader. She now joins fellow contenders Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly as the nominations close today (July 29).

The next step will be for party members to select four candidates in September to continue in the race. An online party ballot will then run until October 31 with the new leader announced on November 2 – three days before the US Presidential election.

In declaring her intention to stand, Ms Badenoch wrote in The Times newspaper: “My campaign is launching with an explicit focus on renewing our party for 2030 – the first full year we can be back in government and the first year of a new decade."

She promised that under her the Conservatives “"will speak the truth again" and return to its roots. She made the case for leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a major dividing line within the Conservative party.

Some Conservatives argue leaving the convention is key to controlling immigration and enhancing national security, but others worry it could damage the UK's international reputation and legal protections.

Ms Badenoch said: “We can’t control immigration until we re-confirm our belief in the nation state and the sovereign duty it has above all else to serve its own citizens.

"Our public services will never fully recover from the pandemic until we remember that government should do some things well, not everything badly."

Also central to her pledge for "renewal" is to embrace capitalism.

"The wealth of our nation is built upon our historic ability to capture the ingenuity and industry of our people, and the willingness of many to trade risk for reward," she said.

"It’s become a dirty word, but our renewal must also mean a renewal for capitalism."

Ms Badenoch supported Brexit and used her first parliamentary speech to celebrate the Brexit vote as "the greatest ever vote of confidence in the United Kingdom".

She gained her first major ministerial role in the Boris Johnson government, serving under then-chancellor Mr Sunak in the Treasury.

Ms Badenoch emerged as a darling of the right of her party during her time as women and equalities minister in 2021 for her stance on trans rights.

She previously ran for Conservative leader following the resignation of Boris Johnson and came fourth despite starting the race with a relatively low profile.