LONDON – Former British business minister Kemi Badenoch launched her bid to become leader of the opposition Conservative Party on July 28, making her the sixth candidate seeking to replace the outgoing Rishi Sunak. Mr Sunak stepped down as leader following the party’s worst-ever election performance earlier in June, but said he would stay as acting leader until a successor was chosen. Ms Badenoch, in an article for July 29’s edition of The Times, said the Conservatives had “deserved to lose” the July 4 election and that, in government, the party had been too left-wing. The leadership contest will see the party’s elected lawmakers first narrow the field to four candidates, who will make their case at the Conservative Party conference, which begins in late September. The number of candidates will then be narrowed down to two, who will be put forward to a vote of all party members.
