By Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) – Kemi Badenoch became the new leader of the Conservatives and the first black woman to lead a major British political party on Saturday, after winning a leadership contest with a promise to return the party to its founding principles. .

Badenoch, 44, replaces former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and has pledged to lead the party through a period of renewal after its resounding defeat in July’s British election, saying it had drifted toward the political center by “govern from the left.”

On the right of the Conservative Party, Badenoch will likely back policies to shrink the state and challenge what she says is left-wing institutional thinking, saying it is time to defend the principles of free speech, free enterprise and free markets.

Badenoch becomes the Conservatives’ fifth leader since mid-2016 after winning 57% of party members’ votes in the final stage of a months-long contest in which a field of six candidates was whittled down to two. He beat former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who won 43% of the vote.

Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer celebrated his victory, saying “the first black leader of a Westminster party is a proud moment for our country”.

Badenoch herself has said publicly that she prefers not to focus on her race.

When asked at the Conservative Party conference earlier this year how she would feel about becoming the party’s first black woman leader, she said: “I am someone who wants the color of our skin to be no more significant than the color of our our hair or the color of our eyes.”

Vaughan Gething became the first black leader of the Welsh Labor Party earlier this year, but resigned after just four months as First Minister of Wales following a wave of ministerial resignations in protest at his leadership.

‘TELL THE TRUTH’

Badenoch promised on Saturday to address the problems in the party head-on.

“The time has come to tell the truth,” he told the audience at the final count of the leadership race, promising to answer key questions about how the Conservatives lost the July election so badly.

“It’s time to get to work, it’s time to renew yourself.”

With outspoken opinions on everything from what she calls identity politics to the courage of civil servants, Badenoch attracts both strong admirers and detractors. It will surely shake the Conservatives, who saw their contingent of lawmakers in parliament fall from 650 seats in July to 121 from 365 seats in 2019.

Now that the Labor government is off to a bumpy start, some Conservatives are increasingly optimistic that they can regain power at the next election, due in 2029.

But some more centrist Conservatives fear that Badenoch could alienate not only the more moderate wing of the party but also some voters who were won over by the centrist Liberal Democrats in the last election.

The former trade minister’s time in government was often marked by disputes with the media, celebrities and her own officials. But her no-nonsense approach has also won many supporters, including Conservative members who elected her over Jenrick.

“The task before us is tough but simple – our first responsibility as Her Majesty’s loyal opposition is to hold this Labor government to account,” he told party members.

“The second is no less important: preparing for government in the coming years.”

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Sarah Young and Andrew MacAskillEditing by Frances Kerry)