The Humbling of the Tories Shows the Limits of Party Politics
The Conservative Party has ruled Britain for most of the past century, regularly reinventing itself and sacrificing leaders. It may never get the chance again.
Illustration: Grace J. Kim for Bloomberg
His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition — otherwise known as the Conservative Party — was at a team-building day at a hotel in southern England on Feb. 26, the day of the Gorton and Denton by-election. Kemi Badenoch, party leader since November 2024, gave an unusually upbeat speech; karaoke was planned for the evening. In the preceding weeks, despite otherwise grim poll ratings, party members had spoken hopefully of seeing a “Kemi bounce.”
Then the result came in.