Face of the Day

Kemi Badenoch has promised to win back voters who have deserted the Conservatives after securing an historic victory in the party's leadership contest.

The 44-year-old becomes the first black woman to lead a major political party in the UK. [...]

Badenoch, who is the sixth Tory leader in less than nine years, now faces the task of uniting a fractured party and leading opposition to Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government.

The Saffron Walden MP said the Conservatives need to "bring back" voters who abandoned them, adding: "Our party is critical to the success of our country.

“But to be heard, we have to be honest.”

The party must admit it “made mistakes” and “let standards slip” over the last 14 years in government, she said. [...]

The party was reduced to a record low of 121 seats in the House of Commons at the general election, with under 24% of the vote.

It lost voters in all directions to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, with thousands of Conservative voters also choosing to stay at home on 4 July poll.