Ex-Cabinet minister Tom Tugendhat has launched his bid to become Conservative leader with a pledge to lead the party to election victory in 2029.
The former security minister, who currently shadows the role, attempted to reach out beyond his traditional moderate support base by insisting he would defend “conservative principles”, pointing out he has defended civil liberties by opposing the Covid passports idea, and opposed planned rises to national insurance that were later overturned.
The former Army officer, a Remainer, has been building his links with the right of the party and counts self-styled “Brexit hard man” Steve Baker as a supporter, as well as Damian Green, who was chair of the One Nation group of Tory moderates.
Mr Tugendhat pledged to rebuild trust with voters who turned away from the party after the Boris Johnson Partygate scandal and Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership by ending Tory infighting.
The MP for Tonbridge, in Kent, received a boost as fellow moderate Victoria Atkins announced she would not be standing.
Mr Tugendhat, who joins ex-home secretary James Cleverly in the race, said: “The British people rightly wanted more control over their lives, streets, borders and much more. But instead of delivering on our promises we focused on fighting amongst ourselves.
“The only way we will win their trust back is by sticking to our Conservative principles and keeping our promises.
“If I say something, I do it. I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party to keep my promises and deliver for our country.
“I know that if the Conservative Party does that, we will return to power in five years’ time.”
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he suggested that he would be willing to leave the European Court of Human Rights if elected: “We know that if institutions do not serve the British people and make it harder to control our own borders, then we will have to exempt ourselves from them, or leave their jurisdiction.”
Earlier, Mr Cleverly echoed his colleague’s call to end infighting within the party, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Tories have been “the most successful political movement, I think, in human history”.
But recent achievements, which he listed as including stabilising the economy and supporting Ukraine, were overshadowed by “a number of negatives”, he said.
“I think one of the reasons why the criticisms landed, and the good work didn’t get cut-through, is we’d spent too much time rowing amongst ourselves, which gave the impression – the wrong impression – but gave the impression that we were more focused on ourselves than serving the British people. So we have to get out of that habit.”
Shadow Communities Secretary Kemi Badenoch is the favourite in the race, according to bookmakers.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride, former home secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel, and ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick are also expected to launch leadership bids.
According to polling by Savanta carried out between July 19 and 21, Mr Tugendhat is the most popular potential contender among both the public, at minus three points, and 2024 Conservative voters, at 21 points.
Dame Priti is the least popular, at minus 28 points and seven points respectively, according to the research.
Mr Cleverly is second in the running, Savanta’s findings suggest, at minus nine points with the public and 19 points among 2024 Conservative voters.
The new leadership election rules
Nominations opened on Wednesday and close on Monday 29 July.
Candidates need the support of at least 10 MPs, including a proposer and a seconder, and MPs can nominate only one candidate per round – a significant reduction since 2022, when Tory MPs were more numerous and candidates required support from 100 MPs.
With only 121 Tory MPs now in Parliament, 11 candidates at most could meet the threshold.
In September, MPs vote for four finalists, who will make speeches at the party conference in October.
Two candidates will be taken forward for a membership vote which will close on 31 October. The new leader will be announced on 2 November.