Conservatives Reject Sir Grant Shapps for Next Election as Badenoch Pushes Post-2024 Reset
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
Conservatives Reject Sir Grant Shapps for Next Election as Badenoch Pushes Post-2024 Reset
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
Summary
Sir Grant Shapps has been turned down as a Conservative parliamentary candidate for the next general election after losing his Welwyn Hatfield seat by 3,799 votes in 2024.
Kemi Badenoch declined to discuss his individual application but said the party is "brand new," adding Conservatives lost 250 MPs in 2024 and are now changing policies, people and processes.
Badenoch said future candidates must back her red lines, including scrapping net zero policies and leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, though Shapps is not thought to oppose either stance.
Shapps, a former party chairman and cabinet minister who held nine ministerial posts, has not commented; one party source said the rejection reflected badly on Badenoch's temperament.
The decision underscores Badenoch's effort to recast the Conservatives after their 2024 defeat, with new candidates set to be announced shortly.