Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick vow to serve in each other’s shadow cabinet

Contest to succeed Rishi Sunak finally comes to an end when the winner is announced on Saturday

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick have both said they would serve in the other’s shadow cabinet if they lost the Conservative leadership race on Saturday.
The four-month contest to succeed Rishi Sunak finally comes to an end when the winner, selected by Tory members, is announced in Westminster.
Bookmakers have Mrs Badenoch as the favourite to be the victor, with Tory membership surveys showing her in the lead, but both camps have insisted it is too close to call.
The low turnout – insiders in the two camps suggest fewer Tory members have cast a vote than in previous leadership contests – has added to the unpredictability.
But on the eve of the announcement, figures close to both candidates insisted they were willing to serve in the other’s frontbench in the case of defeat.
An ally of Mr Jenrick told The Telegraph: “He would serve.” A figure close to Mrs Badenoch said: “She would want to help if she can.”
Both candidates are understood to be preparing to offer shadow cabinet jobs to all five of the other Tory leadership contenders if they are victorious on Saturday.
That means James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride and Priti Patel will all be offered shadow ministerial roles, in addition to the loser from the two final candidates.
The approach echoes comments from all candidates during the contest about the importance of the party getting behind the eventual winner after years of infighting.
But Mr Cleverly told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday that he intended to step back from the shadow cabinet and return to the backbenches.
It means the new Tory leader will lose one of the parliamentary party’s most experienced MPs from the frontbench given Mr Cleverly was both foreign secretary and home secretary.
Whoever wins between Mrs Badenoch, the former business secretary, and Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister, a daunting task faces the new Conservative leader.
The party suffered its worst general election result since the birth of modern British democracy in the 1830s at the hands of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour in July.
With the next general election as long as five years away, a gruelling period of parliamentary battles awaits, with Labour enjoying a vast House of Commons majority, making inflicting vote defeats very hard.
The new leader will try to see off Reform, Nigel Farage’s party which peeled off votes to the Tories’ Right at the election, and win back trust from a disillusioned electorate.
Both Mrs Badenoch and Mr Jenrick issued messages of thanks at the end of the race, with voting closing at 5pm on Thursday and the result set to be announced around 11am on Saturday.
Mrs Badenoch wrote on X: “Polls have closed for the Conservative Party leadership contest.
“I want to thank all our party members who have taken the time to listen to pitches from all of the candidates, turned up to our hustings and hosted us in your associations and in your homes.
“The Conservative Party is much more to me than a membership organisation. It is a family. Thank you to all who voted, especially those who supported me and my campaign for Renewal 2030.”
Mr Jenrick wrote on the platform: “A huge thank you to all the amazing Conservative members, supporters, and campaigners who joined my campaign and supported my vision for the future of the Conservative Party. Together we can put an end to the excuses, move past the drama, and unite our party.”
Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, will be stepping back from the shadow cabinet. He informed leadership contenders weeks ago he intended to return to the backbenches.
Mr Sunak, who steps down as acting Tory leader on Saturday, has insisted he would not be leaving Parliament and intended to continue as the MP for Richmond.