What is the next Tory leader up against?

Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground

Illustration of Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and a burned Conservatives logo
Jenrick and Badenoch are seen as being on the right of the party and aim to win back votes lost to Reform UK
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Shutterstock / Getty Images)

Voting in the Conservative Party leadership contest closes this evening, with Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick vying to become leader of the opposition.

Badenoch, the former business secretary, is the favourite to replace Rishi Sunak. Both her and former immigration minister Jenrick are on the right of the party – and neither are strangers to controversy.

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.