LONDON (AP) — Great Britain Conservative Party On Saturday, he elected Kemi Badenoch as his new leader as he tries to bounce back from a crushing electoral defeat which ended 14 years in power.

Badenoch (pronounced BADE-enock) defeated rival lawmaker Robert Jenrick in a vote of nearly 100,000 members of the center-right party. She is the first black woman to lead a major British political party.

Badenoch replaces former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who led the Conservatives to victory in July. worst electoral result since 1832. The Conservatives lost more than 200 seats, bringing their total to 121.

The new leader’s daunting task is to try to restore the party’s reputation after years of division, scandal And economic tumulthammer That of Prime Minister Keir Starmer policies on key issues, including the economy and immigration, and return the Conservatives to power in the next election, expected by 2029.

“The task before us is difficult but simple,” Badenoch said in a victory speech to a room full of conservative lawmakers, staffers and journalists in London.

“Our first responsibility as Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is to hold this Labor Government to account. Our second is no less important. This is about preparing the government over the next few years, ensuring that by the time of the next election we not only have a clear set of Conservative commitments that appeal to the British people, but also a clear plan on how to implement them, a clear plan to change this country by changing the way government works. »

Business secretary in the previous Conservative government, Badenoch was born in London to Nigerian parents and spent much of her childhood in the West African country.

The 44-year-old former software engineer presents herself as a disruptor, advocating for a low-tax market economy and pledging to “rewire, reboot and reprogram” the British state.

A critic of multiculturalism and self-proclaimed enemy of wokeness, Badenoch has been criticized for recently stating that “not all cultures are equally valid” and for suggesting that maternity benefits were excessive.

In a race that lasted more than three months, conservative lawmakers narrowed the field to six candidates in a series of votes before handing the final two to the entire party membership.

The two finalists came from the right of the party and claimed that they could win back the voters of Reform United Kingdomthe far-right, anti-immigration party led by populist politician Nigel Farage that has eaten into Conservative support.

But the party has also lost many voters to the winning Labor Party and the centrist Liberal Democrats, and some conservatives fear a shift to the right will alienate the party from public opinion.