Kemi Badenoch vows to renew Tory party after leadership win

Badenoch was congratulated by her predecessor Sunak, who posted on social media, external: “I know that she will be a superb leader of our great party.

“She will renew our party, stand up for Conservative values, and take the fight to Labour.”

Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson lauded , externalBadenoch’s “courage and clarity” and said she “brings a much needed zing and zap to the Conservative Party”.

“Kemi has exactly the right courage and clarity to expose Starmer’s failings,” he said.

In a social media post, external, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said “the first Black leader of a Westminster party is a proud moment for our country”.

“I look forward to working with you and your party in the interests of the British people,” he said.

But Labour Party Chair Ellie Reeves said the Conservative leadership campaign showed the party had “learned nothing since the British people resoundingly rejected them in July”.

She said: “They could have spent the past four months listening to the public, taking responsibility for the mess they made and changing their party.

“Instead, Kemi Badenoch’s election as leader shows they’re incapable of change.”

Lib Dem Leader Sir Ed Davey also congratulated Badenoch, saying “the first Black leader of a major UK political party is a historic moment for the country”.

But Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice called Badenoch “another in a long line of Tory politicians who say one thing and do another”.

In a statement, he said: “Kemi Badenoch was front and centre of a Government that failed Britain.”