KEMI Badenoch has won the battle to be Tory leader - but now the real fight begins.
She used her victory speech to promise to “renew” the Conservative Party and learn from their “mistakes”.
This is the fight that really matters.
Just four months ago the Conservative Party suffered the worst election defeat in its 200 year history. It was a bloodbath.
Big beasts were turfed out of their once rock solid seats. Bright, young MPs who were meant to be the future of the party were swept away in the landslide.
Pundits began wondering out loud if the days of the Tory Party were numbered.
Were they - like the famous Dodo - headed for extinction?
But it now looks like people wrote off the Tories too soon.
Kemi’s election yesterday represents a new opportunity for the Conservative Party.
It is a chance to rebuild - and take the fight to Labour.
The Tory contest took four long months.
It seems clear now that it was simply too long.
It let Sir Keir Starmer and his government have a free rein when they should have been held to account by a leader of the Opposition firing on all cylinders.
This was not Rishi Sunak’s fault. He deserves credit for sticking around when others would have thrown the towel in.
His performance in the Budget debate contained the fire and guts we need to see on our frontbenches.
Labour have scored a series of shocking own goals since their July 4 election.
The freebies and Taylor Swift scandals have shattered confidence in the new government.
Rachel Reeves used her Budget to drop a £40 billion tax bomb on Britain - despite spending the election campaign promising she was not plotting secret hikes.
Markets are jittery. UK debt is getting more expensive.
A new Conservative Party leader should have been scoring some political points on these issues.
But there is some good news for the Tories.
They are ahead of Labour for the first time in three years, according to one shock BMG poll.
Are the green shoots of Tory renewal already peeking through?
For the first time in months Conservative MPs have smiles on their faces.
Those who turned up to yesterday’s leadership announcement in Westminster had their tails up.
She is the first black woman to lead a major UK political party
One grinning Tory MP said: “Labour are screwing everything up. We have a real chance now.”
Kemi herself has a chance to personally embody this newfound optimism.
She is the first black woman to lead a major UK political party.
At just 44 years-old she is nearly 20 years younger than Sir Keir - which could help her appeal to younger voters.
And while she has held a string of Cabinet positions, to many she is a fresh face. A clean skin not too hobbled by being associated with the previous regimes of Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak.
Kemi has a reputation for being a straight talker who relishes rustling feathers.
This can get her into trouble.
Her leadership campaign was nearly derailed at the Tory Party conference in October when she appeared to suggest maternity pay had “gone too far” during a radio interview.
She later said her words had been misrepresented and she supports maternity pay.
But deployed properly, this straight talking approach is one of the most lethal weapons in her armoury.
Kemi has a reputation for being a straight talker who relishes rustling feathers
Will lawyerly Sir Keir be able to handle her barrage?
Or will he get knocked for six?
But the Tories must not underestimate the sheer scale of the challenge ahead of them.
Brits were clear about one thing in the ballot box in the summer - they were sick to death of the Tories.
Labour were swept to victory riding the wave of this anti Tory feeling.
The Conservative Party lost with every single age group apart from pensioners.
Their MP numbers were slashed from 365 under Boris Johnson to just 121 today. This is a tiny force for the Leader of the Opposition to muster.
Party cash has been drained. Activists are still pretty fed up and it will take time to build up morale.
And they face an entirely new threat - Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.
Reform may only have four MPs, but they hoovered up 4 million votes in the election and came second in 98 seats.
And they are expected to do very well in next year’s local elections.
Kemi’s immediate challenge is to unite her party and put together the best shadow cabinet she can.
It seems likely Robert Jenrick will get offered a big job.
James Cleverly - who came third in the contest - has ruled out serving.
She must then draw up some policies to attack Labour over the head with.
People know her views on things like being anti woke, but the next election will be fought on the economy.
And Labour have just torn up the economic consensus to hike taxes to a new record high.
Kemi must sketch out how she will turn our anaemic economy around.
I expect a promise to lower taxes will be the Tory battle cry at the next election.
The new Conservative Party leader does not have a minute to lose. The electorate is more volatile and less brand loyal than ever.
Kemi must fight to win back the trust to stand a chance of becoming PM. It is not a fight for the faint hearted.
