Conservatives across the country have been waiting for the moment when Saturday comes.
And Britain’s most enthusiastic Tories this morning crowded into the elegant basement of a grand events venue around the corner from Trafalgar Square for the announcement of their new party leader.
The venue – 8 Northumberland Avenue – says on its website that it strives to deliver “‘wow’ moments”. And the election of Kemi Badenoch as the new leader of the Conservative party counts as one.
Her fans jumped to their feet and whooped when she was named as the winner by Bob Blackman, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs.
The Tories have their fourth woman leader. And they will take delight in pointing out that Labour has yet to have one.
As someone who spent much of her childhood in Nigeria, she delights in making the argument that Britain is a unique country that should be proud of its past and excited about its future. Tory activists now look forward to taking the fight to a Labour party that has had one of the shakiest starts to a new administration in modern memory.
Mr Jenrick’s supporters did their best not to look too crestfallen. It has been a long slog for the footsoldiers but they can take consolation that they delivered a decent finish, coming in 12,418 votes behind Mrs Badenoch’s 53,806.
When she took to the stage she had warm words for her rival.
“Rob,” she said. “We have all been impressed by your energy and your determination. You and I know that we don’t actually disagree on very much.”
Anyone who had trekked to central London for one of the epic political speeches of our time would be disappointed. Mrs Badenoch limited her oration to just a few minutes.
She had a clear message, though, for the party. She told them they had made mistakes and let standards slip and work had to begin right away on getting the party back into position so they can win the next election.
Pointing to the chaos that has rocked Labour, she said: “The Prime Minister is discovering all too late the perils of not having such a plan. That huge job begins today.”
Rather than bask in her moment of triumph, she told the audience: “It is time to get down to business. It is time to renew.”
They were back on their feet, cheering, and in a few moments the room was almost empty.
The long, hard slog of Opposition stretches before the Tories. But now they know who is in charge.
