Conservatives Use Autumn Conference To Jostle For Leadership Ambitions

Aspiring party leaders are on a grassroots charm offensive.

As the ruling Conservatives gather in Manchester for their annual party conference, the most determined ministers are already on a mission to woo over the party’s grassroots. With opinion polls still predicting that Rishi Sunak is on track to suffer a humiliating defeat at the next general election, the question of who might succeed him is already swirling around conservative circles.

Party conferences have always been litmus tests for wannabe leaders to make their case to the grassroots, and with a general election expected next spring or fall, this is the last chance many ministers will have to make their case before the race commences.

The Conservatives are not alien to this type of political manoeuvring. Boris Johnson attracted large crowds for his speech on the conference fringes, less than a year before he became prime minister. Margaret Thatcher also used the platform provided by the conferences to amplify her voice and cement herself as a rising star in the party, before eventually succeeding Edward Heath in 1976.

Much of the action, however, takes place below the radar, in fringe meetings and backroom deals. Donors and campaigners use the opportunity to gauge the support and conviction of potential candidates. Alliances are made and pacts are formed.

After 11 Tory candidates launched their leadership bids in 2022, expectations are high that the next race will be another crowded field, with some party insiders even predicting that the field may balloon to 20.

On Sunday, Kemi Badenoch, the current Business and Trade Secretary, became the star attraction of an event organised by the Institute for Economic Affairs and Taxpayer Alliance – two highly influential think tanks associated with the Thatcherite wing of the party.

While allies of Badenoch have dismissed notions of a burgeoning leadership challenge, speculation will only mount following a recent Sunday Times interview, where she outlined her opposition to Net Zero, the ECHR, and ‘woke ideology’ - three topics of ire that appeal to the party’s membership, who are noticeably more to the right of the voting public.

As the most liked Conservative MP, according to polling conducted by ConservativeHome, and the bookies’ favourite to succeed Sunak, Badenoch is in a commanding position and always seems to be manoeuvring before the date of the next election has even been declared.

The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has also made moves to brandish her right-wing credentials. Fresh from a trip to Washington DC, where she delivered a speech calling for the overhaul of the current migration regime, she held a reception for the Common Sense and Blue Collar Conservatives groups, claiming that ‘multiculturalism has failed’.

Penny Mordaunt, someone who has largely stayed in the political shadows since failing to replace Truss last year, still draws a dedicated centrist Tory fanbase. Buoyed by her international fame for her role in King Charles’ coronation, Mordaunt still plans to carve a lane for herself in the party. On Thursday, she delivered a relatively lukewarm speech, calling for the party to “stand up and fight” for what it believes.