Leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has blamed her predecessor, Rishi Sunak, for the party’s woes as two parliamentarians dumped the party.

Mrs Badenoch in a letter on Monday addressing the defections of Andrew Rosindell, who was the shadow minister for foreign affairs for the Conservatives and Robert Jenrick to Reform UK, blamed her predecessor for mismanaging the party affairs.

She stated, “One of the biggest mistakes made in the last government was allowing a perception to grow that we were divided and that we were in politics for ourselves.”

The Conservative Party leader, who assumed leadership in November 2024 after her party humiliating defeat and ouster of former Tory leader Rishi Sunak, said, “Allowing minor differences to escalate and taking for granted the electorate’s patience cost us dearly. We must not make that mistake again.”

The Tory leader added, “I was elected to rebuild after defeat, to restore discipline and credibility, and to put us back in a position where Conservative MPs can succeed and our candidates can win. That is what drives me.”

Mr Badenoch also berated over 20 former party members who dumped the party for Reform Party, saying the defections hitting the Conservative party was not driven by principle but on the character of defecting members.

“Some of our former colleagues opining on social media seem to have taken these defections as a signal that the party is shifting (or should) ideologically away from the right. This is a serious misreading of the situation. These defections are not about policy differences or ideology; they are about character,” Mrs Badenoch said.

She added, “We are THE party of the right and must remain so. These comments are particularly unhelpful given they come from people who actively stood against the Conservative Party in the 2019 election and themselves worked to split the centre-right vote. The issue right now is not about right or left, but between those who are here for public service and those who put individual ambition above all else. That is the very culture we are now fixing.”

Mrs Badenoch said her leadership would not tolerate psychodrama and members trying to sabotage the party.

“A party that is ruthlessly focused on being effective, holding the government to account and creating a plan for the country cannot also spend its time on psychodrama and intrigue. That behaviour will not be tolerated. We must not distract the country from the mess Labour is making,” she said.