Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is barring former Tory MPs who still back Net Zero targets or want to keep Britain within the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) from standing as party candidates at the next general election. Applications that conflict with her revised policy platform are being rejected regardless of whether the applicant previously served as an MP, marking a deliberate attempt to reshape the party in her image and break with the direction taken under earlier leaders.

Since becoming leader in November 2024, Badenoch has abandoned Net Zero targets and called for the UK to leave the ECHR, and she now says all prospective candidates must demonstrate they can "deliver radical change" and pass "rigorous tests". The party has received more than 2,000 applications to be Conservative candidates and intends to "step up" its selection process over the summer. Framing the move as part of building "a government in waiting" after the party's heavy 2024 election defeat, she is preparing for a fresh election as Andy Burnham is reported to be poised to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour prime minister.