LONDON — Priti Patel, who was Britain’s interior minister when Boris Johnson was prime minister, has become the first candidate to be eliminated in the Conservative Party’s leadership election, two months after the party resoundingly lost power following 14 years in office.
In a vote open to the party’s lawmakers Wednesday, Patel garnered the support of only 14 Conservative members of Parliament, placing her last of six.
Patel, who was home secretary between 2019 and 2022, was a prominent backer of Britain’s departure from the European Union in the referendum in 2016 and is widely perceived to be on the right wing of the party. However, she has a reputation for being a divisive figure, and faced bullying allegations when at the Home Office.
Robert Jenrick, who quit his role in the government led by Rishi Sunak over his opposition to its policies on immigration, came in first with 28 votes. Jenrick was never a senior member of government but has sought to bolster his credentials with the party’s right wing since he resigned. He has argued that the U.K. should leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to get a handle on high levels of illegal immigration, one of the main reasons why many traditional Conservative voters deserted the party at the election on July 4.
He was followed by the bookmakers’ favorite Kemi Badenoch, the former business secretary, who got 22 votes, and James Cleverly, who was home secretary at the time of the election defeat, who got 21.
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat got 17 votes, and Mel Stride, who was work and pensions secretary, got 16.
The five remaining candidates face another contest next week, when one more will be eliminated. The remaining four will then make their pitch to delegates at the Conservative party conference in October, after which their number will be whittled down to two when lawmakers return to Parliament.
The new leader, who will be decided by party members, will be announced Nov. 2.
The winner will replace Sunak, who led the Conservative Party to its worst election result since 1832. The Conservatives lost more than 200 seats, taking their tally down to 121.
The party, which is the second biggest in the House of Commons, is well behind the Labour Party’s 404 seats. With such a big deficit, it’s going to be extremely difficult for the Conservatives to return to power in the next election, which has to take place by 2029.