Who will be our next Conservative leader? Who is right for the job?

I don't personally know many people who have usually voted Conservative. However, my experience is that they are heading in different directions. I know some voted LibDem in the last election and one even voted Labour. I also know of two who voted Reform. This is a leafy shire constituency, so maybe it's different in other areas. My impression is that the Conservatives need to rediscover an identity.

I wanted a genuine middle ground home for those who wouldn't vote Labour, across the HoC, but aren't ideologues of the further right.

ronib

Casdon in conversation with the Reform candidate at the last election- yes anecdotal but he seemed very sure of his convictions. I am sure that he was not the only one to switch from the way the conversation went.

I imagine Reform are not happy with today’s news then. There are only a percentage of the electorate who will vote right, so they are going to be competing. The Lib Dem’s though definitely will be pleased, I bet that’s how by elections will go now.

Kemi for me. She stands up for women’s rights and isn’t frightened to answer questions on this subject. 👍

NanKate

Kemi for me. She stands up for women’s rights and isn’t frightened to answer questions on this subject. 👍

I thought she wanted to take away women’s maternity pay.How is that standing up for women …

Agreed Casdon. I can see the Lib Dems being the official opposition in the future.

She wanted to reduce it greatly becuase it was bad for businesses.

Wyllow3

I wanted a genuine middle ground home for those who wouldn't vote Labour, across the HoC, but aren't ideologues of the further right.

Me too.
It will be Badenoch then.
😬

Good for Labour probably!

So it looks like the Tories have abandoned any chance they had of returning to the Conservative Party that was once respected. There must have been a lot of backstabbing going on last night!

It depends who is eliminated next members vote differently than MPs Cleverley is not home and dry

David49

It depends who is eliminated next members vote differently than MPs Cleverley is not home and dry

Cleverly has been eliminated?

David49

It depends who is eliminated next members vote differently than MPs Cleverley is not home and dry

Cleverley is out. The not so clever Tory MPs voted to keep out Jenrick or Badenoch and got their sums wrong. 🤔

Cleverly is out David.

Jenrick for certain now Cleverley has gone Tory members are hard line and not likely to choose Badenoch

NanKate

Kemi for me. She stands up for women’s rights and isn’t frightened to answer questions on this subject. 👍

Are you having a laugh?

David49

Jenrick for certain now Cleverley has gone Tory members are hard line and not likely to choose Badenoch

I wouldn't bet on that David.

kittylester

Cleverly is out David.

Hadn’t caught up, travelling

I know a few Tory members and they are mainly white male and are unlikely to vote for a black woman regardless of policy

They voted Johnson and Truss in what a success that was they won’t have changed
They also believe to beat Reform the have to be right wing

David49

I know a few Tory members and they are mainly white male and are unlikely to vote for a black woman regardless of policy

They voted Johnson and Truss in what a success that was they won’t have changed
They also believe to beat Reform the have to be right wing

Kemi Badenoch is my MP. The day after she was selected I was talking to a group of elderly white male Conservatives and they thought she was wonderful.

It will be a warm January before I vote Tory, so I obviously have no say in any of it, but wouldn't it be more politically expedient to offer an alternative to Reform rather than try to 'outRight' them?

If Labour offer a centre left option and Reform a hard right one, why not pitch at the centre right? The alternative could be to battle Reform by moving further from the old Conservative position, which could alienate a lot of supporters, instead of just appealing to them in the first place.

The UK is not really a Hard Right country. Yes, there is always an underbelly of Nazi wannabes, but on the whole British values are of moderation and tolerance. Out-Faraging Farage is unlikely to appeal to enough voters to get anyone into power. If the new government makes a total mess of things (which is by no means a given) there's always the Lib Dems.

I’ve decided not to post on this type of thread again. Just because I have a different view from others doesn’t make me right or wrong. I’m interested in all people’s views but I am always shot down.

I shall continue supporting women’s rights, just like my grandmother and women before her.

I will say that KB's views on trans issues seems sensible.

Doodledog

I will say that KB's views on trans issues seems sensible.

But there's more to being a party leader than views on trans issues.

That is a very damning statement, David49, verging on the racist. You clearly have no idea how Tory voters think and why they vote for particular politicians. Liz Truss was engineered into being the unlikely opposition to their favoured candidate by the 1922 committee; the electorate did not trust Sunak, saw he was nowhere ready for the role, and they were proved right.

Now we have Starmer, Rayner and Miliband who have done nothing to restore confidence and much to dent it.

NanKate

I’ve decided not to post on this type of thread again. Just because I have a different view from others doesn’t make me right or wrong. I’m interested in all people’s views but I am always shot down.

I shall continue supporting women’s rights, just like my grandmother and women before her.

Everybody wants to hear everybody else’s views NanKate, don’t let comments put you off saying what you think. You just have to be robust enough to give it back.