The shift of power in the Tory Party

 

Kemi Badenoch elected party leader for the Tory Party

Kemi Badenoch will be the new party leader for the conservative Tory Party in Great Britain. She thus replaces former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is now formally stepping aside.

- It is a huge honor to be elected to lead the party that has given me so much, she says in her first speech, according to the BBC.

Badenoch was trade and business minister in both the Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak governments. She has long been popular in the Tory Party, but she has sometimes been criticized by political opponents for her outspokenness, writes Sky.

The 44-year-old starts in a steep uphill. The Tories faced a nightmare election in July, winning just 121 seats in parliament, compared to Labour's 411.

It has been an almost four-month long process to choose a new leader. Initially six candidates ran and in the final vote Badenoch was pitted against Robert Jenrick.

Analysis: Important days that set the tone for political debate this year ahead

That Kemi Badenoch now takes over as leader of the Tory Party ends important days in British politics that will set the tone for the political debate in the country for many years to come. That's what Chris Mason writes in an analysis on the BBC.

In recent months, the opposition has struggled in the wake of Rishi Sunak's election loss this summer.

"Providing a real and long-term opposition is the mission now," writes Mason.

Sveriges Radio's correspondent Pontus Matsson says that Badenoch is an outspoken debater who can turn up the tone in British politics. With her at the helm, the party now takes a step to the right. Badenoch's main task is to lead the party out of the crisis it found itself in after the big election loss last summer.

- At the same time, it has not been a brilliant start for the Labor government. And that is what makes many Tory members feel a little hope, says Matsson on the radio.

Her outspokenness could cost her dearly if she doesn't learn to manage it in the media and on social media, says Andrew Grice at The Independent. She has repeatedly criticized journalists after her statement led to big headlines.

"Badenoch's current attitude towards the media is unsustainable for an opposition leader," he writes.