Kemi Badenoch becomes new Conservative Party Leader

Kemi Badenoch has been named as the new Leader of the Conservative Party beating rival Robert Jenrick by 12,418 votes.

The former Business Secretary said although there was a ‘huge job' to be done, she was ready to ‘renew' the party following its election defeat last summer.

She used her first Prime Minister's Questions to ask Sir Keir Starmer how he will help farmers facing uncertainty after last week's budget and said she would reverse Labour's "cruel family farms tax" as farmers and rural groups warned the plan would "decimate the countryside".

In a statement to the Countryside Alliance ahead of her victory, the MP for North West Essex set out her views on rural matters, saying the countryside, contrary to many views in Whitehall, "is not just a hotel".

"Our countryside is a national treasure, admired both here and around the world. But it is not just a hotel, it is a place of home and work for millions. This is a fact that all too often Whitehall forgets.

"I am very proud to be an MP for a beautiful rural constituency in Essex and I am a supporter of the rural way of life; something I have fought to protect."

Mrs Badenoch, who served as a Cabinet Minister under both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak said she was sympathetic to the needs of farmers who have had to, ‘defend themselves from campaigns of misinformation and bizarre drives to ban meat and dairy, they routinely face unnecessary barriers to food production while also trying to help the environment.'

She said: "As Business Secretary I worked with my counterparts in Defra to reduce such barriers and protect the interests of British farmers and consumers. I am also a great advocate for local, rural businesses.

"Furthermore, while this Labour government subsidises landowners to build massive solar farms over farmland and presses ahead with a complex web of pylons and cables across the countryside, I have defended our countryside and have called for a proper review into the costs and approach of hitting our Net Zero target.

"It is the people in the countryside who know the land best, and so it is you whom I want to hear from on how we protect the countryside rather than receiving policy papers from those straight out of university living in the city," she added.              

Mrs Badenoch has since unveiled her Shadow Cabinet, which includes Victoria Atkins as Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Having previously served in the Cabinet as Health Secretary following a string of less senior positions, Ms Atkins represents the large rural constituency of Louth and Horncastle and comes from a professional background in law.

Ms Atkins is joined in the Shadow Defra team by Robbie Moore, MP for the moorland seat of Keighley and Ilkley, who served as a junior minister in the Department under the previous government. Prior to his appointment he spoke at our event at the Conservative Party Conference in 2022, and he brings to the role his professional background as a rural chartered surveyor.

Over the coming weeks and months, the Alliance political team will continuing engaging with all political stakeholders, ensuring that the rural way of life is represented in Westminster.