Former security minister Tom Tugendhat has joined the race to replace Rishi Sunak as the next leader of the Conservative Party.
He is the second person to formally join the race, with Home Secretary James Cleverly announced his candidacy yesterday.
Registration for the race opened this evening, with Lord TugendhatMr Cleverly, Suella Braverman, Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick understand they have collected the necessary paperwork to apply.
Tugendhat ran to be the leader of the competition in 2022 and was rewarded with a cabinet position despite not getting the top job.
The current competition will run until the beginning of November.
Formerly chairman of the foreign relations select committee, the former soldier is known for his aggressive views on China and Iran.
Writing in The telegraphthe Tonbridge MP has said he is prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
Diagnose what he thought had gone wrong for the Conservatives in the last election, Tugendhat wrote: “Smart people have already written a million complicated words about why we lost those elections, but I can do it with one: confidence.
“We lost the trust of the British people because we didn’t do what we said we would do.”
See more information:
Most popular Conservative leadership candidate revealed in poll
Who could replace Sunak as Conservative leader?
He added that the public wanted things the party had previously promised: “lower taxes, less immigration, more control over their everyday lives.”
But the last government “simply didn’t deliver”.
He said the current leadership race will not be divisive as the party is in agreement on several points: “The ECHR. Gender. Tax rates. Defense spending. Net zero.”
Tugendhat added: “We know that if institutions do not serve the British people and make it more difficult to control our own borders, then we will have to exempt ourselves from them or abandon their jurisdiction.
“We know what a woman is. We all want lower taxes. We all know that national security must come before Treasury spreadsheets.
“We all know that energy security and household bills come first.”
Rishi Sunak expected to remain Conservative leader until November
And he says his plan, if elected, is to defeat the Labor Party in the next general election and become prime minister.
“What qualifies me for this job? Well, I follow a simple rule. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it,” he said.
“I swore to serve king and country, so I fought against our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan. I fought them again in government as security minister under two Conservative prime ministers.
“I didn’t win every argument I had at the time, but I won the important fight, to keep the country safe from terrorism. I said I would stand up to the dictators, and that’s why China’s communist government sanctioned me, hacked me and directed me.
Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts
“Politics, like life, boils down to one simple rule: keep your promises. When the Conservative Party does this, it wins.
“And the Conservative Party can win the next election. Trust me. I will make it happen.”
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
