Kemi Badenoch.

As Conservative leader, Badenoch voted against new 50% steel tariffs last week, arguing they will damage aerospace, engineering and defence manufacturers who cannot source specialist grades from UK mills — a notable stance given her party's general support for trade protection. She has also been active on Armed Forces welfare, voting for multiple amendments to the Armed Forces Bill in June including one requiring automatic transfer of SEN support plans when military families move between bases, a position where she is 33 percentage points more supportive than the average Conservative MP.

Her voting participation is low — 30%, well below the Commons average — but her 100% party alignment means she has not rebelled once. Her stance profile reflects conventional Conservative positioning: fully against tax increases and immigration expansion, near-zero support for progressive taxation, rail nationalisation or the private school VAT. She departs from her party average by showing less support for climate action and criminal justice reform. Her speeches cluster around the economy, defence and health — 58 and 42 contributions respectively — consistent with the priorities of an opposition leader shadowing government policy across the board.

News coverage over the past 90 days is effectively neutral (average score 0.02 across 50 articles), balancing a strong showing in Conservative Home's shadow cabinet ratings against ongoing scrutiny of her £2,700-a-month expenses claim to rent a six-bedroom Essex farmhouse, which critics have framed as inconsistent with her low-spending ideology. She holds no select committee seats, which is standard for party leaders. Participation data reflects her leadership role, where chamber votes are selective rather than routine.