After a bruising election defeat, former PM Rishi Sunak is standing down as leader of the Conservative Party, triggering a leadership contest. Nominations have now closed, and six candidates are standing to be the new leader.

Those supporters who are members of the Conservative Party will have a chance to vote to choose the new leader. This article lays out the process for choosing a new leader, and what the views of the six candidates are on life issues.

Why is this important?

The Conservative Party is now the Official Opposition, and it has an important role in holding the Labour Government to account. And, of course, whoever becomes party leader now could well be a future Prime Minister. The views of this person on abortion and assisted suicide could have huge implications.

What is the process?

During the summer recess, the candidates will set out their stall to the Conservative Party Membership at events across the country.

Upon the return to Parliament on 4th September 2024 the Parliamentary party will narrow the field down to four candidates through a series of Parliamentary hustings.

The final four will be announced on Wednesday, 11th September 2024, and will participate in a number of hustings at the Conservative Party Conference.

After the Conference the Parliamentary Party will whittle the field down to the final two candidates.

The final two, who will be subject to a vote of qualified Conservative Party members will be announced by Friday, 11th October 2024. The ballot of qualified members will be conducted via secure online voting, and it will close on Thursday, 31st October at 5pm.

The result will be announced on Saturday, 2nd November.

Who are the candidates and where do they stand?

1.           The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP

Kemi Badenoch is widely seen as the frontrunner in the race to be Tory leader. Holding the roles of Business Minister and Women’s and Equalities Minister in the last Government, she has made a name for herself as being outspoken on controversial issues such as gender. Mrs Badenoch, the MP for North West Essex, has quite a good voting record on abortion, voting against making DIY abortion permanent, and against buffer zones. She abstained on the original amendment imposing abortion on Northern Ireland, though she did vote through later regulations enforcing it.

However, she has described herself as “very, very pro-choice”, telling a podcast that she voted against making DIY abortion permanent because “but you can still be pro-choice and yet think well, maybe not like that, I don’t think that way is appropriate”.

On assisted suicide, Mrs Badenoch’s position is not clear – she was not yet an MP when the subject was last voted on in the Commons, and has not spoken on it.

It is also worth noting that she is good on upholding free speech.

2.           The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP

James Cleverly was the first to declare his candidacy. He claims he can “unite” the party and overturn “[Keir] Starmer’s loveless landslide” by bringing “broad appeal”.  An experienced minister, Mr Cleverly held many positions in the last Government, including, most recently, as Home Secretary. As is common among long-term ministers, he rarely votes on conscience issues – on abortion his record is all of abstentions. As Home Secretary, he did speak out against attempts to add amendments on decriminalising abortion to the Criminal Justice Bill (while describing himself as pro-choice).

As Home Secretary, he was responsible for implementing the law that had already been passed to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics. In response to complaints by pro-abortion MPs that guidance released under his predecessor, Suella Braverman, “watered down” the law by permitting silent prayer, he said: “I am committed to ensuring that women in England and Wales feel safe and protected whilst exercising their legal right to access abortion services.” However, the General Election was called before any decision under his authority was made.

On assisted suicide, Mr Cleverly voted against Rob Marris’ Assisted Dying Bill in 2015.

3.           The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP

Robert Jenrick, a former immigration minister, made waves by quitting Rishi Sunak’s Government over “strong disagreements” with the government's Rwanda asylum plan, arguing that it did not go far enough to tackle illegal immigration.

He has a bad voting record on abortion, having voted to decriminalise abortion, to impose abortion on Northern Ireland, to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics, and to make DIY abortion permanent.

His record on assisted suicide is no better, having voted for it in 2015, and expressing support since. It is however interesting to note that his campaign is being managed by Danny Kruger MP, the leading voice against assisted suicide in the last Parliament.

4.           The Rt Hon Dame Priti Patel MP

The former home secretary under Boris Johnson has pledged to unite the party and avoid a “soap opera of finger-pointing and self-indulgence”. Dame Priti has built her campaign around the party’s “heroic members”, stressing they did nothing wrong during the election but that the politicians instead “fell out with each other”.

She has very rarely voted on abortion. In 2015, she did vote for an explicit ban on sex-selective abortion, and in 2021 she voted on regulations on abortion in Northern Ireland (though she abstained on the original amendment imposing it).

She is equally mysterious (or uninterested) in assisted suicide – she abstained in 2015, and hasn’t otherwise expressed any opinion.

5.           The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP

A less well-known name, Mel Stride is a former work and pensions secretary. He is pitching himself as a unifying figure who can stop the party descend into (more) infighting

His views on abortion are also not very clear from his voting record. His record is mostly of abstentions, but he did vote against buffer zones. It seems that this was on free speech grounds; at the time he wrote on his website: “I will always instinctively side with free speech and the right to protest. For example, I voted against an amendment to the bill this week that would make it illegal to protest within 150 metres of an abortion clinic (I strongly support a woman’s right to choose but fear the risk of criminalising someone engaging in a peaceful protest).” 

He voted in favour of assisted suicide in 2015, and he has spoken about it since. “The government has not decided to bring forward legislation”< he told the Today programme last December, “but if Parliament in some form or another decided that it wanted to have a fresh look at this, given it was some years ago that we last did so, that's not something that I would be resistant to”.

The then-minister said he understood both arguments for and against assisted dying.

He said someone should have the “maximum opportunity to have control of the end of their life”, but also people must not be allowed to “use any legislation to cajole people into taking these kinds of decisions when it's not really in their best interests”.

6.           The Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MP

A Catholic former soldier, Tom Tugendhat has been security minister, and ran for leadership before in 2022. He has been backed by former MPs in opposite wings of the party – by the One Nation Damian Green, and the ardent Brexiteer Steve Baker.

His record on abortion is sparse – mostly abstentions, but he voted to impose abortion on Northern Ireland. In a response to a constituent during the election, he said that he is against sex-selective abortion, and “wants the law to better reflect current viability standards”.

He voted against assisted suicide in 2015. However, his recent stance seems less sure; during the election he said that he “not yet decided but eager to hear all views”.