Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick were announced as the final two candidates in the Conservative Party’s leadership race last week after James Cleverly was kicked out of the race.
Badenoch gained 42 votes from Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) while Jenrick was close behind on 41 votes.
There was collective shock as Cleverly – the winner of the previous round – was ejected from the contest after placing third with 37 votes.
Andrew Bowie, a MP supporting Badenoch, said to the BBC that he was “gasping” in the committee room when the results were read out.
Another told the outlet that they were “really surprised” at the result.
Cleverly was the most centrist of the three remaining candidates after Shadow Security Minister Tom Tugendhat was voted out the day before.
It was unexpected for the two MPs from the right of the party to be facing each other in the final of the contest, which was sparked by Rishi Sunak’s resignation as party leader following the party’s worst ever election defeat in July.
Kemi Badenoch, who has been an MP since 2017, presents herself as a no-nonsense politician, who prides herself in saying what others will not.
She has held ministerial jobs under the previous three Conservative Prime Ministers, being most well known for her role as Minister for Women and Equalities and her stance on trans rights.
Her opponent, Robert Jenrick, became an MP in 2014, and most recently held the post of immigration minister under Rishi Sunak.
Jenrick resigned from the role in December, claiming that the government’s controversial Rwanda policy did not go far enough.
He is also in favour of leaving the European Commission of Human Rights (ECHR), a stance that has gained him popularity from those on the right of the party.
Both contestants have been involved in their fair share of controversies.
As Housing Secretary, Jenrick faced backlash in 2020 over granting planning permission for a housing development which was linked to a Tory donor.
Meanwhile, Badenoch admitted to hacking former Labour MP Harriet Harman’s website prior to becoming an MP – an offence that can carry a jail sentence though Badenoch was never charged.
Polling expert Sir Richard Curtis has predicted that Badenoch will be the favourite amongst the party’s membership, who will now vote to decide the winner.
Lauren, a Law and Politics student who is hoping Badenoch will win, told The Student that:
“She is really focusing on how the party needs to change internally for us to win the next general election.”
In contrast, she said Jenrick’s focus on policy changes “seems so backwards” after July’s election loss.
The winner of the contest will be announced following the last round of voting on 2 November.
“21/06/23, London, United Kingdom, Kemi Badenoch, UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pictured at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 in Greenwich” by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is licensed under CC BY 2.0.