Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has told the BBC she leads "a brand new party full of new people" after it emerged in the Spectator, external that former cabinet minister and Tory party chairman Sir Grant Shapps has been rejected as a Conservative Party parliamentary candidate.
Sir Grant, who has declined to comment, served in nine ministerial roles in government as well as co-chairing the party. In cabinet, he served as home secretary, defence secretary, transport secretary, business secretary, energy secretary and net zero secretary.
He was also a Foreign Office Minister, housing minister and international development minister, external.
He lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat to Labour's Andrew Lewin in 2024 by 3,799 votes after representing it since 2005. But his application to stand again for the Conservatives at the next general election has been declined.
One party source told the BBC
"it reflects badly on Kemi's temperament. North Korean purges don't work in British politics".
Badenoch told a news conference in central London:
"We don't treat our former MPs or our candidates like tittle-tattle for Westminster gossip.
"What I will say is that we're going to be announcing candidates shortly, and you will see that this is a very different party from the one that was removed from government in 2024."
Asked repeatedly about her decision, Badenoch said that
"commenting on individual applications would be absolutely wrong"but added that
"I want people to know that this is a new Conservative party.
"It is not going to be making the mistakes of the past. We lost 250 MPs at the last election.
"We are changing policies, we are changing people, we are changing process. What I have said is we want people who are going to meet the standards which we are setting. Who are going to abide by the policies I have put red lines on. There could be all sorts of reasons for any individual to be allowed or not allowed on the list."
Badenoch has insisted that future Conservative candidates must agree to abandoning net zero carbon policies and to withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights. It is not thought Sir Grant would disagree with either of these stances.
He also happens to be the co-chair of Conservatives Together, external, a group founded "to support and represent Conservative candidates." He received a knighthood in Rishi Sunak's resignation honours list for "political and public service."
Grant Shapps quits aerospace firm after watchdog probe
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Watch: Badenoch questioned on Grant Shapps in full
