She would cross the road to bite your ankles, whether you were goading her or not!”This is a remark from a long term admirer of Kemi Badenoch, delighted to see her win the Conservative leadership contest.

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A self-proclaimed straight speaker, Kemi Badenoch will bring a combative right-wing tone to the role of leader of Britain's Conservative Party, vowing a return to "authentic conservatism" to rebuild a party facing an uphill struggle to return to power.

Ms. Badenoch, 44, whose parents were immigrants from Nigeria, becomes the first Black woman to head a party that has had three other female leaders — Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and Liz Truss. She succeeds Rishi Sunak, who became the first nonwhite British prime minister after taking over the Tories, Britain’s oldest party, in 2022.

Kemi Badenoch is chairing her first meeting of the shadow cabinet as leader this morning. We had been expecting to find out who will actually be turning up at some p

Badenoch said the Conservatives have veered toward the political center by "governing from the left" and must return to its traditional ideas.

Ms. Badenoch’s ascent is partly the result of a deliberate diversifying of the party under David Cameron in the 2000s. In her politics, she exemplifies its more recent rightward turn.

In her victory speech, Badenoch described her first tasks as ‘tough but simple’ – we’d argue they’re tough and extremely challenging.

At the start of the weekend there was an outburst of rejoicing among Tory activists - not something they have been accustomed to in recent years. A single opinion poll suggested the Conservatives are now in the lead.

If the newly elected Conservative Party leader can grab the key issues she can “move the needle” and fix the party’s “brand crisis”, says Sky News contributor Kosha Gada.