James Cleverly will pitch himself as ‘unity candidate’ to drag the Tories out of electoral doldrums
JAMES Cleverly will pitch himself as the “unity candidate” to drag the Tories out of the electoral doldrums.
The Shadow Home Secretary was poised to be the first candidate to formally put himself forward in the contest.
He is expected to face a fierce contest against ex-cabinet colleagues Priti Patel, Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch who are set to enter the race.
Allies say he is the only candidate who can bring the party together and bring back supporters who backed Labour, Reform or the Lib Dems at the election.
The shadow Home Secretary was first out the gate to declare he should be Britain’s leader of the opposition.
He said he will focus on delivery and ensuring his party is in a place to win when Brits next take to the polls.
Dropping a hint he would stand on Tuesday morning, Mr Cleverly said: “The Conservative Party exists to provide good government and when we are in government it is our duty to do it well and when we are ejected from government.
“We need to think about why that happened, what we need to do differently.”
Nominations for the Conservative leadership open on Wednesday, with contenders having until next Monday to secure enough parliamentary party support to proceed to the next round.
Other contenders set to join the race include shadow communities secretary Kemi Badenoch and former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.
Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel, shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick could also announce their bid today.
Over summer Tory MPs will narrow the field down to four, who will then make their case to card-carrying Conservatives at party conference in early October.
The final two candidates, also selected by MPs, will be voted on by members in an online ballot, with the winner crowned on November 2.
It came as Mr Cleverly yesterday warned his rivals not to “divide up and factionalise”.
He implored colleagues against descending into a bitter civil war, arguing that “trying to carve up and divide up and factionalise … is the wrong way of thinking”.
Meanwhile, Suella Braverman, who could also take a run at the leadership, told LBC the Tories should fight back against becoming “a collection of fanatical, irrelevant, centrist cranks”.