RACE IS ON
Favourite to replace Rishi revealed as Tory leadership battle kicks off with Kemi, Priti & Cleverly fighting it out
Who will be the next Tory party leader? Here are the candidates vying to replace Rishi Sunak
THE three-month long Tory leadership race is now officially underway with six contenders ready to battle it out in the first round of voting
Kemi Badenoch, the bookies' favourite, Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick are all on the ballot paper after securing the backing of 10 MPs.
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Nominations had opened last Wednesday and closed at 2.30pm today.
A number of votes by MPs will now whittle the shortlist down to four candidates - who will address the party faithful at Tory conference in October.
Further voting by the party will then see four candidates become two, who will then be subject to a vote by Tory members with the leader announced on November 2.
Here, The Sun takes a look at who is running for Conservative leader.
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Robert Jenrick
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In his early years in Parliament, he was given the nickname Robert Generic by some unkind colleagues due to his mild-mannered, lawyerly political style.
But the former immigration minister, 42, managed to transform himself from a One Nation centrist Remainer into a right-wing firebrand in just a few years.
Placed in the Home Office by Rishi Sunak to temper then Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Mr Jenrick instead grew increasingly aligned with her hardline immigration views.
In December last year, he quit his Government job over "strong disagreements" with the Rwanda asylum plan, arguing it did not go far enough to tackle illegal immigration.
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Since then, he has been calling for Britain to leave the European Court of Human Rights and to cap net migration at 100,000.
His backers include Danny Kruger, a leading figure on the Tory Right.
He is 5-2 with Ladbrokes, 11-4 with William Hill.
Tom Tugendhat
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The shadow security minister is gearing up for a fierce battle with James Cleverly to claim the centrist crown.
But in a bold move, the Tonbridge MP hinted he'd even consider ditching the ECHR to secure the UK's borders.
He dismissed fears of party division, insisting that on topics like the ECHR, gender, taxes, defence , and net zero, all Tories shared "common sense" views.
He tried and failed to become leader in 2022, where he positioned himself as the scandal-free alternative to Boris Johnson Johnson's tainted government.
After a career in journalism, the Foreign Office, and the British Army, he joined Parliament in 2015.
He chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee for five years before joining the Cabinet for the first time under Liz Truss in 2022 as Security Minister.
His odds? 4-1 with William Hill, 5-1 at Ladbrokes.
Kemi Badenoch
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The shadow communities secretary is the bookies' favourite to replace Mr Sunak and has long been seen as a rising star of the party.
A darling of the right, she used a Times article to launch her leadership bid, accusing successive Conservative prime ministers of allowing Britain to become “increasingly liberal” and tolerating “nasty identity politics”.
She entered Parliament only in 2017 and made a name for herself as minister for women and equalities, becoming an outspoken voice against trans issues and woke ideology.
She said “renewal” was the first task for a new leader and that she would aim to rebuild the party by 2030 and respond to Reform UK’s threat from the right.
The former business and trade secretary made a leadership attempt in 2022 after Boris Johnson’s resignation, coming fourth.
Ladbrokes has her as 7-4 favourite, while William Hill also makes her the favourite at 15-8.
James Cleverly
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James Cleverly has had plenty of Cabinet experience in the last few years.
He briefly served as Education Secretary during the July 2022 government crisis under Boris Johnson and then as Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary.
He was the first to officially throw his hat in the ring and promised to heal Tory divisions.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Cleverly said he could lead a Tory Party with a “broad appeal” to Reform UK voters as well as Liberal Democrats and Labour backers.
Mr Cleverly joined Parliament as the Conservative MP for Braintree in 2015.
After an injury cut short his Army career, he got a business degree and joined the Territorial Army.
He worked in magazine and digital publishing before setting up his own business. He was a London Assembly member before he became an MP.
Mr Cleverly is at 9-2 with William Hill and 6-1 at Ladbrokes.
Mel Stride
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Seen as a more moderate, centrist contender, the shadow work and pensions secretary is one of Mr Sunak’s closest allies.
His frequent media appearances made him the face of the Tory campaign in the run-up to the election disaster.
The MP for Central Devon said he believed he was the right person to “unite the party”.
He said: “We’ve substantially lost the trust of the British people and we’ve lost our reputation for competence, and I believe that I’m in a very good position to address those issues going forward.”
Having entered Parliament in 2010, he chaired the Treasury select committee for three years, which he said would help him hold Labour to account on the economy.
The bookies don't seem to agree, putting Mr Strides odds at 20-1 from William Hill and 28-1 at Ladbrokes.
Priti Patel
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A long-standing eurosceptic, Dame Priti served under both Theresa May and Boris Johnson but spent the last few years on the backbenches.
She was a driving force in the Vote Leave campaign, and as Home Secretary launched a points-based immigration system, signed the agreement with Rwanda to send asylum seekers to the country, and sealed returns deals with Albania and Serbia.
She stepped down after Liz Truss took the reins but is now back, promising to deliver “experienced and strong” leadership to unite the party's warring factions.
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In a Telegraph column, she vowed to harness the “huge talent pool” of Conservative members to tackle the challenges that Labour, the Lib Dems, and Reform can’t solve.
Her odds with both William Hill and Ladbrokes are 8-1.
Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride
By MARTINA BET, Political Correspondent
THE third Tory leadership contest in the space of two years has officially started and this time it is set to be a marathon.
The new leader won't be crowned until November, with the annual party conference in October serving as a "beauty parade" for the final four candidates.
The decision to have a three-month long race has been widely supported by MPs as they argue the party needs the time to fully understand what went wrong.
The Conservatives suffered their worst election performance in history this summer - winning just 121 seats, far fewer than in 1906 (156) or 1997 (165).
But could this decision backfire?
All candidates say they will be able to unite the party and overturn Sir Keir Starmer's "loveless" landslide.
They have also all pointed to Tory infighting as a key factor for their devastating loss.
However, one thing remains true about Tory leadership contests: they always start with plenty of handshakes and polite nods, but it doesn't take long for the mudslinging and backstabbing to begin.
And with such a long contest, there is ample space for "blue on blue" attacks to intensify - something the public has definitely grown tired of.
The delay also means Rishi Sunak will have to stand up opposite Sir Keir at PMQs through the autumn, deliver the traditional closing speech at party conference, and also lead the Opposition response to Rachel Reeves’s first Budget in October.
This drawn-out spectacle of MPs clinging on to a leader who is on his way out might just further tarnish the Conservative image, making them appear stuck in the past.
Whoever becomes leader next might find the party in even worse shape than before and one thing is for sure, it is going to be a bumpy ride.
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