Sir Grant Shapps will not be standing as a Conservative candidate at the next election. The former cabinet minister has failed to clear the first hurdle of his party's overhauled selection process.
Kemi Badenoch did not name him when she faced questions about the decision. She did not need to. Her message was clear enough. She leads what she called a brand new party full of new people.
This is renewal, not revenge. After the heavy defeat in 2024 that removed the Conservatives from government, Badenoch has set out to change policies, people and processes. The old ways delivered stagnation, open borders and net zero zealotry. Voters rejected them. Now the party is rejecting the people most associated with them.
The Spectator reported that Shapps did not pass the new assessments, along with at least ten other former MPs. Multiple party sources described a process designed to test alignment with the leadership's direction. Candidates must now meet standards and back specific policy positions set from the top. That is how serious parties rebuild.
Badenoch told the BBC the Conservatives are a very different party from the one removed from government in 2024. She is right to say it. The old guard had years to fix public services, control spending and secure borders. They left office with record migration, crumbling institutions and a sense that no one was in charge.
Critics inside the party whisper about purges. They miss the point. Selecting candidates who actually believe in fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty and institutional respect is not extremism. It is basic competence. Western conservatism has always rested on those foundations. Pretending otherwise is what cost the Tories their majority.
