Newark MP Robert Jenrick hints at Conservative leadership bid

Nottinghamshire’s sole Tory MP has hinted he could be about to launch a bid to become his party’s next leader. Robert Jenrick hung on to his seat of Newark by a narrow majority to become Nottinghamshire’s only Tory MP – the party even losing the stronghold of Rushcliffe to Labor for the first time since 1966.

Mr Jenrick has quickly become a favorite to take over the leadership of the Conservative Party from Rishi Sunak, who has confirmed he will not continue as party leader after leading the Conservatives to their biggest ever election defeat. Mr Jenrick has been MP for Newark since 2014 and was one of the MPs who came out to support Boris Johnson in the 2019 Tory leadership contest.

Since then, Mr Jenrick has held government posts including housing secretary under Mr Johnson, health secretary under Liz Truss and immigration minister under Mr Sunak. The Newark MP resigned from the latter role after arguing that the plan for Rwanda, now scrapped by new Prime Minister and Labor leader Keir Starmer, did not go far enough in tackling illegal immigration.

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Now Mr Jenrick has hinted that he will put himself in the position to be the next Tory leader. Asked by the Telegraph whether he would stand in the leadership race, he replied: “I am just two weeks away from the worst election result for the Conservative Party in our history.

“We all have to reflect on how this happened. I’m talking to colleagues in Parliament and to those who lost their seats.”

Other potential contenders for Conservative Party leader include Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel. Rishi Sunak has said he will remain leader while the process of selecting his replacement takes place, with some Conservatives favoring a shorter contest in the summer and others favoring a longer one in the fall – the latter favored by Robert Jenrick.