Housing Minister Kit Malthouse becomes 10th contender in Tory leadership race saying public want a ‘new face’ for PM

By Kit Malthouse, Housing Minister

THERE is a yearning for change out there.

This leadership campaign cannot be about the same old faces, scarred by the wars that have split the Tory Party over the last three years.

I believe I’m the new face, with fresh new ideas, from a new and talented generation.

And with that, I have two decades of front line political experience – leading overseas trade missions, putting my arms around the families of knife crime victims and building homes for young people.

We need to end the Brexit paralysis, and while I voted to leave the EU, I know that without unity across the UK we can’t get a deal over the line.

That’s why I brought together MPs from different sides of the party to hammer out a plan dubbed the Malthouse Compromise, uniting Conservatives on Europe for possibly the only time in our history.

With some adjustments, my plan still holds.

But while we agonise over Brexit, we must recognise that people’s lives are changing. If the Conservative Party is the only thing that stands still, we will struggle for relevance. It’s time for a new generation to lead the charge into our future with boldness and vision.
We must strengthen our Union, and the people we serve need a new social contract. A good job, a secure home and a brilliant school are the nuts and bolts of a happy life.

As Housing Minister, it’s been my mission to build more high-quality homes as fast as we can, and numbers are looking good but there is much more work to do. We must pledge to offer these essentials to everyone: Job, House, School.

I’ve run my own company for more than two decades, and weathered some really tough times, so I understand the opportunities and challenges small businesses face.

We must revolutionise our economy, freeing a new generation of entrepreneurs to take risks and buildbusinesses, creating jobs and wealth.

And crucially we must spread that wealth with radical policies that make it easier for employees to own a stake in the business they work for, and to own shares generally. Everyone should have a piece of the national balance sheet.

The Conservative Party must become the party of children, with their welfare, protection and future at the heart of everything we do. All of us have only one chance at childhood.

It’s the foundation of our hopes, aspirations and character. There must be an all-out assault on child poverty, and we need to make the lives of parents easier.

I’ve had political responsibility for a challenging social services department and London’s police force. Four years focused on a terrifying surge in youth violence – and getting it under control – confirmed my view that education is the only social policy that consistently works.

It is an escape route from a dead end, and the bedrock of social mobility. It’s also the reason I, and millions like me, got where we are.

As Prime Minister I would make ours the party of well-funded schools, investing in the future of each and every child
Besides improving children’s lives, we’ve got to secure their future.

That means investing heavily in science to tackle climate change and disease. As the chair of London Hydrogen, I promoted the green, British hydrogen fuel cell, and I founded the life sciences hub MedCity. I’ve led the debate on science in Parliament, and green tech would be central to my mission.

We won’t get the chance to take on these and other pressing challenges unless we first work together to get Brexit completed.

These steps – unity, a viable Brexit plan and a compelling domestic agenda – will secure a bright future for our remarkable country.

I got into politics to get things done. As Deputy Mayor for Policing in the capital I drove action to cut teen killings by 70% and devised our first ever violence against women and girls strategy.

I would bring this experience of fighting crime to being Prime Minister. As a councillor I led the effort that halved rough sleepers in central London, and now I’m building houses for the young.

I’m a Northern boy who built a business in the Midlands and now represents a stunning part of Hampshire.

My granddad was a Yorkshire wagon driver, my grandma a teacher, and my mum and dad were the first in their families to go to university. My family’s story is one of education, hard work and opportunity, and that’s what I want for everyone.