UK's Tory Party elects first black leader

LONDON — Kemi Badenoch was elected the new Conservative Party leader of the United Kingdom on Saturday, becoming the first black woman to lead a major political party in the UK.

Badenoch, former secretary of state for business and trade, won 57 percent of the votes, beating Robert Jenrick, former minister of state for immigration, in the final stage of a monthslong contest that saw a field of six whittled down to two.

The new leader's daunting challenges are to restore the party's reputation after years of division, scandal and economic tumult, hammer Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer's policies on key issues, including the economy and immigration, and return the Conservatives to power at the next election, due by 2029.

Badenoch said in her victory speech that the Tories need not only clear "Conservative pledges that appeal to the British people", but also "a clear plan to change this country by changing the way that government works".

The new Tory leader also asked her party members to "be honest about the fact that we've made mistakes".

"The time has come to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party and our country the new start that they deserve," she said.

Starmer congratulated Badenoch on her election victory on social media platform X, saying that "the first black leader of a Westminster party is a proud moment for our country".

The Tory leadership race was triggered by former prime minister Rishi Sunak's announcement of his intention to resign on July 5 after the Conservatives lost to the Labour Party in the country's general election.

A business secretary in Sunak's government, Badenoch was born in London to Nigerian parents and spent much of her childhood in the West African country.

Badenoch herself has publicly said she prefers not to focus on her race.

Asked at the Conservative Party conference earlier this year how it would feel to become the first black woman leader of the party, she said: "I am somebody who wants the color of our skin to be no more significant than the color of our hair or the color of our eyes."

Badenoch is the Tories' fourth female leader, after Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and Liz Truss, all of whom became prime minister. She's the second Conservative leader of color, after Sunak, and the first with African roots.

Agencies - Xinhua