Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt enter Tory leadership race – British Politics Live | Policy

transport secretary Grant Shapp is on Sophy Ridge Sunday now. He says there are three things needed now to run the country and for the Conservatives to win the next general election.

“[They are] going to have to have full competence, going to have to be able to communicate and going to have to be able to campaign,” he says.

Shapps says his track record as a former chairman of the Conservative Party and the way he ran the Department for Transport “with great skill” shows he has those skills.

“I think actually I can use the same approach with the country,” he said.

He added, repeatedly, that a “fresh start” was needed for the UK, including for it to lead the way to a low-tax economy.

“What you need is a good start. If you get a good start, you will have the opportunity to re-examine the economy and establish a 10-year economic plan that will deliver a fairer and more strong,” Tugendhat said.

Voting to stay in the EU in the Brexit referendum, he said he had “always respected” the outcome of the vote.

“What I want to do is get a good start on the six-year disputes that we have,” he added.

Tom Tugendhat, a senior Conservative and ex-soldier currently chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is the first to make the media rounds this morning.

Asked by Sophy Ridge on her eponymous Sunday morning show on Sky News what experience he has for the job, given he has never served in any government role, Tugendhat highlighted his credentials as a veteran.

It’s not an entry-level position, but it’s not a leadership position either, it’s a leadership position and the reality is that my whole career has been about serving our country,” he said. he continued.

“[In] leading combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, leading in foreign affairs, where, as you know, I very clearly defended our country.

“[I’ve defended] our country against Chinese economic threats and against Russian intimidation in many different areas and this has led to me being sanctioned by one and quite violently attacked by the other.

“I fought for my country and I was attacked there too.”

Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps, who will soon be at Ridge on Sunday, officially launched his leadership bid this morning.

Publication on Twitterthe MP for Welwyn Hatfield declared himself ‘a problem solver, with a proven delivery record’.

He also said Environment Secretary George Eustice backed him to be the next Tory leader.

A post attributed to Eustice on social media, shared by Shapps, said: “Grant has always demonstrated good judgment and an ability to handle anything thrown at him.

“We have challenges ahead as we battle the aftermath of the pandemic and that’s why I support Grant to be our next prime minister.”

More on the Tory leadership candidates from the Observer’s political editor Toby Helm, who says the contest will highlight divisions in the fractured party.

This weekend Sunak is seen as the early frontrunner and it was said yesterday that at least 80 Tory MPs had signed behind his campaign. Announcing in a video on social media his intention to run, Sunak said he wanted to “restore confidence, rebuild the economy and reunite the country”.

High-profile figures, including a former Commerce Secretary, Liam Fox, have described Sunak as “an outstanding individual who actually has a plan to control government spending over time.” What we can’t do is continue to spend the money we don’t have and leave the burden to future taxpayers.

But no sooner had the ex-chancellor declared his ambition to run than the knives came out from his critics, including cabinet ministers and people inside No 10.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, loyal to Johnson to the end, had his lines prepared. “We’ve had a high-tax chancellor and I’m from a low-tax party, and I want to see us go back to being a low-tax party,” the minister for Brexit opportunities told Any Questions on BBC Radio 4. More earlier in the week, Rees-Mogg had said Sunak was “not a successful chancellor”.

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Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt join the Tory leadership race