LONDON — Outspoken, right-leaning MP Kemi Badenoch was elected leader of Britain’s opposition Conservatives on Saturday as the party tries to bounce back from a crushing election defeat that ended its 14 years in power.

Badenoch (pronounced BADE-enock), the first Black woman to lead a major British political party, has vowed to “renew” the centre-right Conservatives by pushing for a smaller state and rejecting identity politics.

Badenoch defeated rival candidate Robert Jenrick in online and postal voting by party members, receiving 57% of nearly 100,000 votes cast to Jenrick’s 43%.

Badenoch, 44, replaces former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who led the Conservative Party to its worst election result since 1832 in July.

The challenge for the new leader is to restore the party’s reputation after years of division, scandal and economic turmoil, break Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s policies on key issues such as the economy and immigration, and return the Conservatives to power at the next election. 2029.

“The task before us is difficult but simple,” Badenoch said in his victory speech to a roomful of Conservative MPs, staff and journalists in London. He said the party’s job was to hold the Labor government to account and prepare commitments and a plan for the government.

Referring to the party’s election turmoil, he said, “We must be honest; “We have to be honest about making mistakes, honest about letting standards slide,” he said.

”It is time to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan our future, to reset our politics and thought, to give our party and our country the new start it deserves,” Badenoch said.