Tory leadership race begins after Sunak’s election disaster

The battle for the future of the Conservative Party has officially begun as nominations opened in the contest to replace Rishi Sunak.

James Cleverly, who was the first Tory leadership hopeful to declare his candidacy and is confident he has the 10 MP backers he requires to enter the race, said the party needs to expand its base of support and shake off the impression that it is more focused on infighting than serving the public.

There will potentially be a crowded field in the contest, which could trigger months of Conservative infighting as the party considers how to respond to its worst ever election result before the winner is announced on November 2.

Former home secretary Mr Cleverly told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that despite the General Election drubbing which saw it reduced to just 121 MPs, his party has been “the most successful political movement, I think, in human history”.

But recent achievements, 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.”

He said the Conservative Party needs to “expand our base of support” but when asked about a recent poll suggesting around half of Tory members are in favour of joining forces with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, he said the party “doesn’t do mergers”.

Former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, former home secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel, shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick are also expected to launch leadership bids.

All seven – Mr Cleverly, Ms Badenoch, Mr Stride, Mrs Braverman, Dame Priti, Mr Tugendhat and Mr Jenrick – were reported by Sky News to have requested leadership packs with the required paperwork to stand after nominations formally opened.

But shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins, who had been the subject of leadership speculation, ruled herself out in a Telegraph article.

She said: “I am flattered that many people in the House and beyond have asked me to stand but it has never been my intention to run in this contest.

“Until polling day three weeks ago, I had one of the biggest jobs in government, on which I was completely focused. I now want to help the next leader unite, rebuild and renew our party.”

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.

Contenders need a proposer, seconder and eight nominations to stand.

The parliamentary party will then narrow the field down to four, who will make their case at the Conservative Party Conference, which runs from September 29 to October 2.

The final two, picked by the parliamentary party, will then go to a vote of Conservative Party members in an online ballot that will close on October 31 with the result announced on November 2.

Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said the likely runners and riders were “a collection of failed ministers” and “it’s like a group of arsonists asking for a new box of matches”.