The next Conservative leader will be from the populist right of the party after Tory MPs were kicked out after Chemi Patenoch and Robert Jenrick were chosen as the final two candidates. James Smart in a stunning twist.
In a result that left many Conservatives shocked and some Labor and Lib Dem officials openly delighted, Badenoch smartly came out on top in the final poll of Tory MPs, just ahead of Genrick.
Cleverly, the shadow home secretary and the last remaining candidate from the party's centre, topped the previous round of polls on Tuesday and is the favorite among party members to win, including in the final round.
But results announced by Bob Blackman, chairman of the party's 1922 backbench committee, saw the party lose support by 39 votes on Tuesday.
Badenoch went from 30 votes to 42 on Tuesday. Jenrick went from 31 supporters to 41. The final decision will now go to a ballot of Conservative Party members, with the result announced on November 2.
The result has caused consternation among some Tory MPs, many of whom belong to the party's more moderate one-nation wing, but the tactical voting effort has resulted in a choice between the two right-wingers. “We were too smart at halftime,” said one.
Another Tory MP said he was now getting messages from local members: “What are you doing?” After the vote. Adding further impetus to Cleverley's bid, party insiders said it was significant how many more moderate party members were in the race.
Former Tory cabinet minister Nadine Dorries told X: “MPs had a job. Be normal and vote for the best person to lead you. It really isn't that hard. ” During the party conference in Birmingham last week, he wisely urged party members to be “more normal”.
The latest twist in the race saw immediate speculation of a conspiracy and vote-lending, with Cleverley's team trying to keep Patenoc, initially seen as party members' favorite, out of the final vote, but miscalculated.
However, a source at the Cleverly team said, “At no time has there been any consolidated vote credit from our campaign.” A source in Jenrick's camp said the same.
Other MPs suggested that some supporters of Tugendhat, who was sacked on Tuesday, had decided to support Badenoch because of their distaste for Jenrick's pledge to take the UK out of the European conference, feeling that a place in the bottom two was guaranteed for the fellow centrist genius. On human rights.
Whatever happens, it means the next opposition leader will be firmly on the right side of the party, with key differences between Genric and Patenoc. Jenrick has pushed policies around immigration, while Patenock has focused more on culture war issues and institutional reform.
Both argued that they could unify the party, and Jenrick had long been seen as a centrist. However, after he stepped down as immigration minister in Rishi Sunak's government, he took a more right-wing and sometimes populist approach, pledging to immediately withdraw the UK from the ECHR if he became prime minister.
Genrick has openly addressed the issue of a Brexit-style withdrawal, calling it “leave or stay” and wanting to “finish migration”.
Patenok has taken a more nuanced approach to the problem. Speaking after Wednesday's decision, he told Sky News that focusing on the ECHR “stops the conversation we need to have with the whole country” about migration.
While Jenrick told Sky that he could “absolutely” promise a clean contest, his camp has already sought to highlight its opponent's preference for battles over culture war issues.
A source in Genrick's camp said Tory members “have to either vote for a candidate with a serious plan and detailed policies or risk being dragged down endless rabbit holes, Twitter quips and distractions”.
After the conclusion, X wisely said: “Unfortunately it was not to be. We are all Conservatives and it is important that the Conservative Party gets this disastrous Labor government together.
But Labor characterized the Tory MPs' task as “electing the two architects of Tory defeat”, emphasizing the ministerial roles of Patenock, the shadow home secretary and Genrick.
Privately, cabinet ministers were jubilant. One told the Guardian: “Looks like Keir's genie is back at work after a few weeks off.” In a humorous reference to the government's donation row, one Labor MP asked: “Should the Tory leadership decision be declared a gift?”
The Liberal Democrats said: “If it was an interview process they would have put the job advert out again. All the Conservatives can come up with is a failed ex-minister who votes for Donald Trump and a failed ex-minister who thinks maternity pay is too much.
Jenrick has said she would support Trump if he was in the US, while some believed her chances of victory could have been hurt by her controversial comments about Patenoch's maternity pay during last week's Conservative conference.
Throughout the contest, many Tory MPs said they were worried he might become leader because he could be rude and abrasive. Before the elections, he was accused of creating an intimidating atmosphere in the government department he ran.
