The current Shadow Secretary has recently visited the Chesham and Amersham constituency as part of her bid to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.

Kemi Badenoch, who is the MP for North West Essex, dropped by in South Buckinghamshire this month as part of her Renewal 2030 campaign.

The 44-year-old has been on a whistle-stop tour of the UK where she has met numerous Tory supporters and voters to try and ‘reunite the Conservative family’, following a disastrous result in the recent General Election.

The party suffered its worst-ever showing in its history gaining just 121 seats in Parliament, losing to the Labour Party who achieved a staggering 411 seats.

This brought an end to 14 consecutive years of Tory rule, with the right-wing vote being spilt across the Conservatives and the newly rebranded Reform, which were formerly known as the Brexit Party.

This, statistically, played a huge part in the party’s humbling defeat.

However, Badenoch aims to bring the Conservatives back from the dead with her campaign, as she aims to replace the former Primer Minister, Rishi Sunak, as the leader of the party.

A new leader for the Conservatives is due to be named on November 2.  

Speaking to the Times Newspaper at the end of July, she said: “My campaign is launching with an explicit focus on renewing our party for 2030 – the first full year we can be back in government and the first year of a new decade.

"We can’t control immigration until we re-confirm our belief in the nation state and the sovereign duty it has above all else to serve its own citizens.

"Our public services will never fully recover from the pandemic until we remember that government should do some things well, not everything badly."

Her visit to the area was made public knowledge on August 17 via the Renewal 2030 Facebook page, with images showing the 44-year-old speaking to numerous of people, posing for pictures and having several conversations.

Timeline of Tory leadership bid

  • September 4, 2024: MPs vote. If more than four nominations remain, a second ballot will take place
  • September 9, 2024: Second ballot takes place if more than four nominations remain  
  • September 29 – October 2, 2024: Party conference. Four candidates make pitches to party members
  • October 8, 2024: Tory leadership hustings
  • October 9 – October 10, 2024: MPs select the final two nominations
  • October 13 – October 31, 2024: Party members vote for an online ballot
  • October 31 2024: Ballot closes on October 31
  • November 2, 2024: New leader is confirmed