UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps have thrown their weight behind front-runner Rishi Sunak in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader.
Raab, who had not previously endorsed a candidate, introduced Sunak when he formally presented his candidacy at an event in Westminster.
With the other candidates in a bidding war on tax-cut promises, Raab told the enthusiastic crowd: “Just remember this: While others are talking, this month Rishi delivered the biggest tax cut for working people in a decade; and he did it because he is a true conservative, imbued with the values of enterprise, hard work and family. Rishi’s values are our values.
He highlighted Sunak’s early support for Brexit, his “groundbreaking” pamphlet on free ports and his strong poll ratings relative to other candidates.
Also on the scene was Shapps, who pulled out of the Tory leadership race and backed Sunak after it became clear he was unlikely to secure the support of the 20 MPs needed to go to the ballot.
Key supporters including Oliver Dowden, who resigned as party chairman after the disastrous by-election in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield, former chief whip Mark Harper and former trade secretary Liam Fox were also in attendance.
Sunak sought to differentiate himself from the rest of the field by refusing to promise generous tax cuts immediately, instead stressing the importance of not believing the “fairytales.”
In his own speech, he said it was time for a “grown-up conversation” with the public about the challenges ahead. He said he wanted the campaign to be “a moment where the party and the country came together”.
Supporters waved cardboard signs with slogans including “Restore trust” and “Unite the country”.
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Sunak also sought to explain why he supported Johnson until last week, saying: “We owe it to the people who elected Boris in 2019 to explain why he is leaving office.
“Boris Johnson is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met and whatever the commentators say, he has a good heart,” he said, insisting he would not be involved in “rewriting history” about his premiership.
Sunak also denied rumors that former Johnson aide Dominic Cummings was secretly advising him. “Dominic Cummings has absolutely nothing to do with this campaign and will have absolutely nothing to do with the government I have the privilege of leading,” he said.
Asked if he would be dogged as prime minister by stories about his past tax affairs, following the recent controversy over his wife’s US green card, Sunak said: “They are all there and we have discussed them.”
Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murthy, who is the daughter of the billionaire founder of Indian tech giant Infosys, bowed to pressure to pay UK tax on her worldwide income earlier this year after it emerged she was not living here for tax purposes.
The former chancellor secured the highest number of public endorsements from MPs, who will quickly narrow the field to two candidates over the next 10 days. Sunak, who resigned last week, said he was carrying a “message of change”.
Sunak’s launch coincided with a speech by Tom Tugendhat, also presented by his most senior cabinet supporter, Anne-Marie Trevelyan. Tugendhat has the third largest number of supporters – and has highlighted his commitment to growing the economy and underlined his commitment to deregulation as part of the new ‘Brexit freedoms’.
Tugendhat did not promise new business tax cuts, saying they could not be “the only round in the magazine”, but said he would cut fuel duty by 10p and reverse the rise in national insurance. He said the UK would have “the most investment-friendly tax system in the OECD within five years”.
He said his leadership would address the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis in a way his cabinet rivals had not. “At a time so desperate for so many – and when our service is most needed – we have stepped down,” he said.
“We have retreated into division when we desperately need unity. When our nation needed our party to function, we retreated into faction. When the moment called for service, we caused an uproar.”
He said the party had a duty to act because of the scale of the crisis facing millions of people. “Every day families see their savings steadily dwindling and wonder, will it be over by Christmas? This is simply not sustainable. Not fair. It is not right. We must act.”
Asked if he was launching a leadership campaign just to secure a cabinet job, Tugendhat said his candidacy was “not a compromise position or a negotiating strategy.”
He said any candidate who made it to the final round must go to the Tory party membership: “No candidate should offer or accept a compromise that goes behind the membership.”
Cammy Badenoch’s campaign launch also took place on Tuesday, with suspended former communities secretary Michael Gove – her most famous supporter – in the audience.
Badenoch said she was a junior minister to both Sunak and Liz Truss and that there should be a “real debate” about the next leader and MPs “shouldn’t just accept that this is a continuation of what we’ve had before, but with different personalities”.
In a spirited speech in front of Union Jack flags that won her a standing ovation from a packed room at the Policy Exchange think tank, Badenoch criticized the “treachery” of rivals’ pledges to cut taxes – which she said they would not keep.
She added that she would not get into a bidding war with lawmakers who claim “my tax cut is bigger than yours,” but that she was committed to cutting taxes for businesses, families and individuals.
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