Kemi Badenoch has rejected Sir Grant Shapps' application to stand as a Conservative parliamentary candidate at the next general election, as the party leader presses ahead with plans to reshape the Conservatives following their heavy electoral defeat.

Sir Grant, a former Conservative Party co-chairman, sought selection to return to Parliament but was turned down.

Badenoch has framed the decision as part of a broader effort to create what she describes as a "brand new party full of new people" after the Conservatives lost 250 MPs at the last election.

A longstanding figure within the party, Sir Grant served as Conservative co-chairman under Lord Cameron between 2012 and 2015 before holding a succession of senior cabinet posts, including transport secretary, business secretary, energy secretary, defence secretary and, briefly, home secretary.

He represented Welwyn Hatfield from 2005 until losing the constituency by 3,799 votes in 2024. He later received a knighthood in Rishi Sunak's resignation honours list and now serves as co-chairman of Conservatives Together, an organisation established "to support and represent Conservative candidates".

Despite that record, his application to return as a Conservative candidate was declined.

Badenoch has previously stated that all future Conservative candidates must support her policy positions, including leaving the European Court of Human Rights and abandoning the target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. It is understood that Sir Grant does not disagree with either policy.

Speaking to the BBC, Badenoch declined to discuss individual applications but said the party had learned from its defeat.

"I want people to know that this is a new Conservative Party," she said.

"It's not just going to be making the mistakes of the past.

"We understand what went wrong, we've listened, we've changed policies, we're going to have a brand new party full of new people.

We lost 250 MPs at the last election."

She added: "We need new people.

We want people with business experience.

People who understand what the job of legislating is.

"The Conservative Party that is coming back is a new and different party."

Earlier this month, Badenoch also said she had rejected other former Conservative MPs over their stance on net zero.

Writing in The Telegraph, she said she was building a "party for the future", not a "retirement home for failed politicians".

She wrote: "If someone still believes in net zero targets that make energy more expensive and are destroying industry, they are not coming back.

"If someone thinks that the ECHR can be wished away rather than being dealt with properly, they are not serious.

"If they want to jump on every passing fad that makes us look more like Liberal Democrats than Conservatives, there is no place for them in this party.

We have to show we have changed for the better."

Questioned repeatedly about Sir Grant during a press conference on Thursday, Badenoch again refused to discuss his application.

"We don't treat our former MPs or our candidates like tittle-tattle for Westminster gossip," she said.

She added that candidate announcements would be made soon and said they would demonstrate that the Conservatives had become "a very different party from the one that was removed from government in 2024".

Reiterating her position, Badenoch said commenting on individual applications would be "absolutely wrong" but stressed that the party was changing its policies, personnel and selection 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," she said.

"There could be all sorts of reasons for any individual to be allowed or not allowed on the list."