After their 14 years in power ended with the Labour Party’s landslide victory in July, the Conservatives have begun a period of soul-searching, with most saying a new leader must end the infighting and lack of delivery they believe led the party to its worst election performance in its long history.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is bowing out as leader, addressed the conference briefly, saying he would not make a traditional leader’s speech in order to allow the four hopefuls to make their case to the party to replace him. He called on the party to unite around the winner.
Leading contenders Jenrick and Badenoch put the focus firmly on immigration, with both saying former Conservative governments had badly failed to tackle an issue voters say is further stretching already struggling public services, such as health.
Jenrick told Sky News he would set "a legally binding cap cast in iron" on numbers allowed to enter Britain and the nation should leave the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty agreed by almost every European nation, which some Conservatives blame for stopping deportation flights for asylum seekers.
Badenoch responded by saying while numbers did matter, it was more about integration and culture. "Culture matters even more. Who comes into the country is absolutely critical, and leadership, you need to start from the top," she told the BBC.
All four candidates, including former foreign minister James Cleverly and former security minister Tom Tugendhat, said the Conservatives needed to win back the trust of voters after squandering it during years of infighting and scandal. The next leader will be the party’s fifth since former prime minister David Cameron stood down in 2016.
The Conservatives’ annual conference will be dominated by the leadership contest, with all four due to address delegates on Wednesday before being whittled down to two in October. Members will then cast their votes and the new leader will be announced on Nov. 2.
