Priti Patel and 5 Others Vie to Succeed Rishi Sunak as UK Opposition Leader

British Indian former home secretary Priti Patel is among six candidates making their leadership pitches to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party chief and Opposition Leader as the UK Parliament resumed after its summer recess on Monday.

Patel, 52, is in the fray along with other Tory Cabinet ex-ministers such as Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Kenrick, and Mel Stride for the first round of votes on Wednesday, when one candidate with the least backing of their party MPs will be knocked out of the race.

This staged contest comes after the Conservatives' bruising defeat to Labour, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during the July 4 general election.

"It's time to go ahead, time to go forward. I am an optimist with clear goals, and I will revive our party so we can provide the leadership our great country needs," Patel said in the key speech around her campaign slogan of "unite to win" ahead of the first round of voting.

"My mum would pack us loads of food, a nice picnic. She's a vegetarian, so she made Indian rice and chapatis. That was just amazing," she said, speaking about vacations along the English coast.

Now, Patel faces an uphill battle as Tory MPs vote this week to whittle down the field to two candidates for online voting by the wider Conservative membership.