Liz Truss was voted in as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and as a result, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But while the leadership contest between her and Rishi Sunak had all the look and feel of a general election campaign, critics have pointed to a democratic deficit at the heart of the contest.
It’s not uncommon for ruling parties to change their leader during a stint in government. It happened most recently when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May, who had herself replaced David Cameron.
Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair mid-term, as John Major did with Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan with Harold Wilson, Sir Alec Douglas-Home with Harold Macmillan, and Harold Macmillan with Sir Anthony Eden. However, Liz Truss is only the second Prime Minister in our history to have been chosen directly by a political party's members. The only other one was Boris Johnson in 2019.
In the past, either the ruling party’s MPs chose the new leader, or a single candidate stood uncontested, as happened with Gordon Brown and Theresa May. So who are the people who got to choose between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak as our new Prime Minister?
Well, the Conservative Party is made up of 180,000 members, according to a recent House of Commons report on political party membership. That’s roughly the same number of people who live in Peterborough. It works out as just 0.39% of the UK electorate.
Liz Truss received 81,326 votes from Conservative Party members. That works out as 0.17% of the UK electorate.
The vast majority of those voting in the Tory party leadership contest were male. Fewer than a third of the party’s members are female (29%), according to the HoC report.
They’re also overwhelmingly well-off, with 82% of the membership coming from ABC1 social grades, compared to 77% in Labour. Conservative Party members are mostly over 60. Some 53% of members are aged 60-plus. Another 29% are aged 40-59, while just 13% are aged 25-39, and 5% are aged 18-24.
Conservative Party members are also overwhelmingly based in the South of England. The South is home to 54% of Conservative Party members, made up of 12% from London and 42% from the rest of the South. By contrast, only 35% of the UK’s population live in this region - in London (13%) and the rest of the South (22%).
The North of England is home to 23% of the UK’s population, but only 17% of Tory Party members. The Midlands and Wales are home to 30% of the UK population, but only 18% of Conservative Party members. Scotland though makes up around 8% of the UK population, but 10% of Conservative Party members.
Region // % population // % Conservative Party members
- London // 12 // 13
- Rest of South // 22 // 42
- North // 23 // 17
- Midlands and Wales // 30 // 18
- Scotland // 8 // 10
Age bracket
18-24: 5%
25-39: 13%
40-59: 29%
60+: 53%
