Tory leadership race – live: New leader to be elected in November as Robert Jenrick takes the lead

The person chosen to replace Rishi Sunak will be named a few days before the US presidential election, which is on November 5.

The 1922 committee had scheduled the contest after the party suffered its worst general election result in parliamentary history.

Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and former foreign secretary James Cleverly are expected to be candidates aiming to unite the right and center wings of the party after their humiliating defeat on July 4.

Mr. Sunak said: “It is in the national interest that we have a smooth and orderly transition to a new opposition leader, so I will remain in office until November 2, and the result of the leadership election.”

“This will allow our party to carry out its role as the official opposition professionally and effectively. I believe this is the best thing for the Conservative Party and, most importantly, our country.

“It is not appropriate to comment on the campaign of the leader or the candidate. I am sure that this schedule decided by the party council and the 1922 Committee will allow a reasonable, professional and respectful contest.

Tory leadership hopeful Suella Braverman has rejected suggestions that she will handicap Nigel Farage’s UK Reform later this year if she loses the contest.

“There is now more antagonism towards Suella Braverman among MPs who are now generally held to the view that she will be disabled,” A senior Tory source told newspaper i. “If he does, it will be a clear admission that he cannot win the leadership and does not have the support of MPs in the party.”

But a spokesman for the former home secretary denied the claims, telling the outlet: “Suella was recently elected as a Conservative MP and has been a member of the Conservative Party for thirty years.”

However, a Reform source was quoted as saying: “We expect them to tip the Tory leadership and then come to us, possibly in the autumn at conference time.

“He’ll fit right in.”

Tory peer Daniel Hannan has called for changes in the party’s “absurd” leadership rules, warning that “the next Conservative leader will struggle to keep jobs”.

In a piece for the ConservativeHome website, he wrote: “I say that, not as a comment on the next leader, but as a comment on the absurd rule of leadership. To win, a candidate only needs to come second in the parliamentary elections. But to stay to be in office, he needs more than half the votes of the members of parliament.

“We are the only party in the democratic world that, instead of building some protection of office, makes it more difficult to hold the office than to win in the first place.

Warning that “the rules do not need to be polarized” and “we cannot deny this”, he continued: “We cannot change the rules during the leadership contest. But we have to change them afterwards.

“The new leader must appoint a committee, gather figures from 1922 and the Party Council, possibly led by the former leader, to design a better system. To avoid any temptation to game to suit a particular candidate, any changes must be made only with a delay – say, from 2030. That will allow the authors to focus on finding the best system.

“How much more evidence do we need? What are we waiting for the devil?”

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested the new Labor Government “discovered new and unexpected scars” which it blamed on 14 years of Conservative rule.

After a generally warm exchange in the Commons to consider Labour’s first legislative program since winning the General Election, Sir Keir accused the Conservatives of being “content to let our country’s problems fester” and focusing “almost entirely on trying to save their own skins” in their final months in power. .

The prime minister said the “14-year rot” would take time to fix as he insisted the task of national renewal was “not fast”.

Robert Jenrick has drawn laughter from the Commons benches when he described the Conservatives as a “centrist party”.

In a hard-line tone, the potential Tory leadership candidate said: “What we are seeing on the Channel, is a national security emergency. We are seeing tens of thousands of people who don’t know anything crossing into our country – entering our country in violation of our laws. .. This has to stop.

Urging the government to reduce legal migration, he claimed that failure to do so was “very corrosive to trust and public confidence in politics, and democracy”, and added: “If we the centrist parties on the left and the right do nothing, then you will see the rise of right-wing parties in this country.

Robert Jenrick has also delivered what he will see as Tory leader, as he warns of mistakes the party made when in government in response to the new King’s Speech.

Seeing himself as a clearly unifying figure on the many problems facing Britain, the former immigration minister said: “As patriots, we all know that the success of this government is a success, and we want it to be able to solve the great challenges facing our country. and enjoy my time in office as I did in my years as a minister.

Asserting that he “will always defend the record of the last Conservative government”, he told MPs: “We also promised to secure our borders, that we will ensure a strong economy and lower taxes, and a strong NHS and public services, society rightly expect. And about that amount, we don’t deliver.

“The baton for these matters is now being transferred to this Labor government, and where it succeeds, I will welcome it and support it. Where it falls short, I will challenge it. Because we want to make sure that the big issues facing our country are dealt with properly.

“We live in one of the best times to live, but this is a time of great change, when power shifts from the west to the east, when new technologies like AI elevate old industries, where there is an era of mass migration. , which challenging changes in our country, putting great pressure on housing, public services, integration, making it more difficult to build a united country that we all want to see.

In a harsher tone, he continued: “What we are seeing in the Channel, is a national security emergency. We are seeing tens of thousands of people who do not know anything crossing into our country – entering our country in violation of our laws … This must stop.

Dame Priti Patel has sought to defend the legacy of the previous Tory government during the debate on the King’s Speech, as reports suggest she could become the party’s next leader.

In remarks that will only accelerate those hopes, the former home secretary told MPs: “We’re going to hear a lot of this, which is basically the record of the previous government. But there’s certainly a lot of progress over the last 14 years, and we’re proud of the record and led transformation including public finance.

“This is a huge thing that hasn’t happened in months and weeks. We are proud that we have transformed our public finances from a government borrowing £1 in every 4, to a much better fiscal position today.

“We are proud to have supported the creation of 800 jobs per day on average, with the fastest economic growth of many of our competitors, reducing the tax burden on fuel income, overseeing the increase of doctors and nurses working in our NHS. , the number of other teachers, and schools raise the standard.

“It’s a record we’re proud of, including getting more police on our streets to fight crime and law and order. So it’s important to be reflective.”

In a message to the front bench of the new government, he added: “This is all trying to rewrite history, because sometimes it distracts from the responsibility to organize and carry out big decisions and choices through slogans.”

Here we take a look at some of the remaining runners and racers: