Britain | Tory story
The race to become leader of Britain’s Conservatives
An exhausted party seems to think that it doesn’t have to change

Kemi Badenoch has a reputation for pugnacity, which is why many Tories think she should succeed Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader. But when addressing Angela Rayner, Labour’s new deputy prime minister, in the House of Commons on July 19th Ms Badenoch sounded jaded. Ms Rayner’s hope of pepping up housing construction was doomed, she said. There would be a deluge of angry emails; Labour’s new MPs would revolt.
Explore more
Britain August 3rd 2024
- What will Great British Energy do?
- A riot in Southport shows how the British far right is changing
- How deep is Britain’s fiscal “black hole”?
- Britain’s railways go from one extreme to another
- The disease that most afflicts England’s National Health Service
- The race to become leader of Britain’s Conservatives
- Was the Bank of England right to start lowering interest rates?
- British voters care less about tax rises than politicians think
More from Britain

The evolution of Britain’s extreme right
White nationalism has become more amorphous and more online

Inside the unrest disfiguring English cities
Anger over immigration will be a recruiting opportunity for the far right
Was the Bank of England right to start lowering interest rates?
Andrew Bailey takes a calculated risk
What will Great British Energy do?
The new body’s first job is to unblock private investment
Britain’s railways go from one extreme to another
Departing: privatisation. Destination: centralisation