The Tory Party: the great dwindling membership show
Kemi Badenoch has won the vote of Tory members to be the latest leader of the Tory Party. There have now been six in the last 15 years.
She did not get anywhere near 50% of the vote of the total membership meaning that if the ballot had been held under existing trade union legislation it would have been declared invalid.
More significantly there were just 131,680 members eligible to vote compared with 328,000 in 2001.
While the Tories are the historic party of British capital (a title to which the LibDems can also lay some claim) they are clearly in serious and significant decline
2024 contest
There were 131,680 eligible electors. Turnout was 72.8%.
Kemi Badenoch received 53,806 votes
Robert Jenrick received 41,388 votes
There were 655 rejected ballots.
2022 contest
Members’ ballot
Truss – 57.4% (81,326 votes)
Sunak – 42.6% (60,399 votes)
Turnout – 82.6% (142,379 out of 172,437 eligible voters)
2019 contest
Members’ ballot
Johnson – 66.4% (92,153 votes)
Hunt – 33.6% (46,656 votes)
Turnout – 87.4% (138,809 out of 159,320 eligible voters)
2005 contest
Members’ ballot
Cameron – 67.6% (134,446 votes)
Davis – 32.3% (64,398 votes)
Turnout – 78.4% (198,844 out of 253,689 eligible voters)
2001 contest
Members’ ballot
Duncan Smith – 60.7% (155,933 votes)
Clarke – 39.3% (100,864 votes)
Turnout – 78.3% (256,797 out of 328,000 eligible voters)
The figures are from this House of Commons briefing paper on Conservative leadership contests.
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