2024 Conservative Party leadership election
← October 2022 24 July – 2 November 2024 (2024-07-24 – 2024-11-02)
 
Candidate Kemi Badenoch James Cleverly Robert Jenrick
 
Candidate Priti Patel Mel Stride Tom Tugendhat
Incumbent leader

Rishi Sunak


A Conservative Party leadership election was announced on 5 July 2024 when then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his plans to resign as Conservative leader after the party's defeat at the 2024 general election.[1]

The leadership race will begin on 24 July and will last for over three months, with Rishi Sunak's replacement being confirmed on 2 November.[2]

Timeline

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Key dates
Date Event
24–29 July Nomination period; potential candidates must gather the support of ten fellow Conservative MPs to qualify for the first MPs' ballot.[3][4]
4–11 September Conservative MPs will vote in a series of ballots to narrow the field down to four candidates.[4]
29 September –
2 October 		The Conservative Party Conference will take place, where all four remaining leadership hopefuls will give keynote speeches.[4]
2–10 October Conservative MPs will vote in two more ballots, where the four candidates will be whittled down to two finalists.[4]
10–31 October The final two candidates will go head-to-head in an online ballot of all Tory party members.[4]
2 November The result of the election will be announced.[4]

Candidates

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Announced

[change | change source]

The following displays all the candidates who have announced their leadership campaign.

Candidate Constituency Experience Campaign Ref.

Kemi Badenoch 		North West Essex
(2024–present)
Saffron Walden
(2017–2024) 		Shadow Housing and Communities Secretary
(2024–present)
Business Secretary
(2023–2024)
Minister for Women and Equalities
(2022–2024)
International Trade Secretary
(2022–2023)
September 2022 leadership candidate 		Announced:
28 July 2024

Website

[5]

James Cleverly 		Braintree
(2015–present) 		Shadow Home Secretary
(2024–present)
Home Secretary
(2023–2024)
Foreign Secretary
(2022–2023)
Education Secretary
(2022)
Party Chair
(2019–2020)
2019 leadership candidate 		Announced:
23 July 2024

Website

[6]

Robert Jenrick 		Newark
(2014–present) 		Minister of State for Immigration
(2022–2023)
Housing and Communities Secretary
(2019–2021) 		Announced:
25 July 2024

Website

[7]

Priti Patel 		Witham
(2010–present) 		Home Secretary
(2019–2022)
International Development Secretary
(2016–2017) 		Announced:
27 July 2024

Website

[8]

Mel Stride 		Central Devon
(2010–present) 		Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary
(2024–present)
Work and Pensions Secretary
(2022–2024)
Leader of the House of Commons
(2019) 		Announced:
26 July 2024

Website

[9]

Tom Tugendhat 		Tonbridge
(2024–present)
Tonbridge and Malling
(2015–2024) 		Shadow Minister for Security
(2024–present)
Minister of State for Security
(2022–2024)
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
(2017–2022)
September 2022 leadership candidate 		Announced:
24 July 2024

Website

[10]

Declined

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The following Conservative Party politicians were seen by commentators as possible candidates for the leadership but declined to stand:

Polling

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Dates
conducted 		Pollster Client Sample
size 		Kemi
Badenoch 		Jeremy
Hunt 		Suella
Braverman 		Tom Tugendhat Robert Jenrick James Cleverly Priti Patel Victoria Atkins Esther McVey Others Don't know
10–11 July 2024 Conservative Home[a] N/A 995 26% – 10% 13% 13% 9% 3% 2% 1% 7% 16%
July 2024 YouGov[b] QMUL and Sussex University 725 31% 12% 16% 15% 7% 10% 6% 2% – – –
  1. ↑ The ConservativeHome Party Members' Survey is a self-selecting panel, not a demographically or geographically weighted poll. The panel is composed of over 3,300 members of the Conservative Party, who receive the survey by email.
  2. ↑ 'Don't know' and 'None' removed

References

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  1. ↑ Heale, James (2024-07-11). "Sunak apologises to Tory MPs for election mess". The Spectator. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  2. ↑ "Conservative party plans to unveil next leader in November". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  3. ↑ Maidment, Jack (2024-07-24). "Politics latest news: Tory MP says he'll nominate Priti Patel as next party leader". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Conservative party plans to unveil next leader in November". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  5. ↑ "Kemi Badenoch enters Tory leadership race to replace Rishi Sunak". Sky News. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  6. ↑ "James Cleverly running for Conservative leadership". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  7. ↑ Francis, Sam (25 July 2024). "Jenrick becomes third Tory leadership candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  8. ↑ Rayner, Gordon (2024-07-27). "Priti Patel enters Tory leadership race promising to give members more say in policy". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  9. ↑ "Stride announces Conservative leadership bid". BBC News. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "Tugendhat joins race to be next Tory leader". BBC News. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  11. ↑ Holl-Allen, Genevieve (2024-07-07). "Victoria Atkins pitches herself as unity candidate as Tory leadership race speculation rises". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  12. ↑ Martin, Daniel (2024-07-24). "Victoria Atkins: I am not running for Tory leader". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  13. ↑ "Suella Braverman pulls out of Tory leader contest with a parting shot". Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "The Conservative leadership race will be crowded, protracted and likely bitter". Politics.co. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  15. ↑ "North Yorkshire MP fails in bid to stand for Tory leadership". York Press. 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  16. ↑ Manancourt, Vincent (July 6, 2024). "Jeremy Hunt rules himself out of Tory leadership race". Politico. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  17. ↑ "'We need someone to stop Farage': Tories begin leadership hunt for their saviour". inews. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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