As the UK Parliament resumed after its summer recess, former British Home Secretary Priti Patel, a British Indian MP, is among six candidates vying to succeed Rishi Sunak as the Conservative Party leader and Opposition Leader.
Patel, 52, is competing with fellow Tory ex-Cabinet ministers Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Kenrick, and Mel Stride. The first round of votes is scheduled for Wednesday, where the candidate with the least support from party MPs will be eliminated.
This leadership contest follows the Conservatives' severe defeat to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party in the July 4 general election. After the loss, Sunak resigned, choosing to serve as Opposition leader until a successor is elected.
“It’s time to move on and to move forward. I am an optimist with clear goals, and I will revive our party so we can provide the leadership our great country needs,” Patel declared in her speech, emphasising her campaign slogan, “unite to win,” ahead of the initial voting round.
Patel highlighted her achievements as Home Secretary under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stating, “When I was the Home Secretary, we increased police officers to record numbers and gave them more powers to fight crime. We gave victims of crime more rights and improved services and support for survivors of domestic abuse. We ended free movement and brought in reforms to our immigration and asylum system... We did all that and more, you have in me a leader who will fight for the British people.”
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Patel, who has Gujarati heritage, spoke about the racism she faced as a schoolgirl in England after her family migrated from Uganda to escape persecution under dictator Idi Amin in the 1960s.
“As a child, once people start to label you, it lives with you for all your life... I’m working even harder to show that I’m equally capable,” she said.
Reflecting on her upbringing, Patel fondly recalled, “My mum would pack us loads of food, a nice picnic. She’s a vegetarian, so she made Indian rice and chapatis. That was just amazing,” referring to family holidays by the English coast.
Patel faces a challenging path as Tory MPs begin the voting process this week to narrow the field to two candidates, who will then be put to an online vote by the broader Conservative membership. The winner will be announced on November 2.
Kemi Badenoch, currently serving as shadow communities secretary, called for a “renewal” of the Tories, while shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly appealed for unity in their speeches. A common theme in all six contenders’ pitches was criticism of Labour’s tax policies and the Conservative Party's record after 14 years in power.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to the leadership hopefuls, saying, “I'm not going to take lectures from anyone from the previous government who left the worst possible inheritance. The country's in a real state.” He argued that the Tories had “badly damaged” the economy and should apologise “for the mess they made.” Starmer added, “What we're doing is cleaning it up.”
As the leadership contest unfolds, Parliament is set to tackle key issues, including a statement on last month’s riots and votes on bills to nationalise rail operators and support the creation of a new publicly owned energy company.
(With PTI Inputs)
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