SAJID Javid and Jeremy Hunt are the latest contenders to throw their hat in the ring for the Conservative top job and prime minister.
The former health and foreign secretaries made their announcements after Grant Shapps and Nadhim Zahawi while Liz Truss is expected to add her name to the growing list on Monday.
Sajid Javid promised to cut the NI rise if he was elected Tory leader
Jeremy Hunt has promised to make tax cuts, should be become leader
Liz Truss will reportedly launch her campaign on Monday
Nadhim Zahawi has announced he is in the battle to become the next Conservative leader and prime minister
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced his intention to stand earlier today
Ex chancellor Rishi Sunak has already launched his bid
Suella Braverman has also thrown her hat in the ring
Declaring their candidacies in The Telegraph, Mr Hunt and Mr Javid both said they would not only scrap the former chancellor’s plans to raise corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent in April, but reduce the rate to 15 per cent.
Mr Zahawi, Rishi Sunak’s successor, had said earlier this week that “everything is on the table” when questioned over the tax rise.
The leadership contenders’ timescales for the change are different, with Mr Hunt slashing the tax to 15p in his first autumn Budget, while Mr Javid would set a “glide path”.
Mr Javid also said he would scrap the unpopular National Insurance rise, which was introduced while he was health secretary to fund the NHS and social care.
He told The Telegraph: “I’m not sure I would have done it if I had been chancellor, but I was focused on my job and I’m not trying to do other people’s jobs for them.”
Foreign secretary Liz Truss “will enter the Tory leadership race” after Mr Zahawi and Mr Shapps launched their bids earlier on Saturday.
Ms Truss will seek to advocate “classic Conservative principles”, and could declare her candidature as soon as Monday, reports say.
Her plans include reversing the Government’s national insurance rise, cutting corporation tax and introducing measures to ease the cost-of-living crisis, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Newly-appointed Chancellor Zahawi has thrown his hat into the ring for Tory leader, joining his predecessor Rishi Sunak, and becoming the second Cabinet minister to declare their ambition in the space of an hour.
The former education secretary becomes the third serving Government minister to kick off their campaign for the leadership, after Grant Shapps and Attorney General Suella Braverman declared their intentions.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that after “careful consideration” and discussion with colleagues and family, he would not stand to be party leader and the next prime minister.
In addition to Mr Zahawi, Mr Shapps, Mr Sunak, and Ms Braverman, ex-minister Kemi Badenoch and senior Tory Tom Tugendhat have launched their own bids, with further announcements anticipated over the coming days.
Other potential front-runners include trade minister Penny Mordaunt and former health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt.
Launching his campaign, Mr Zahawi pledged to lower taxes for individuals, families and business, boost defence spending, and continue with education reforms that he started in his previous role.
Born in Iraq to a Kurdish family, the new Chancellor came to the UK as a nine-year-old when his parents fled the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Believed to be one of the richest politicians in the House of Commons, he helped found polling company YouGov after studying chemical engineering at University College London.
He has often said that his own personal backstory has deeply influenced his view of Britain and he recently spoke of the debt he owed poet Philip Larkin as he improved his English as a teenager.
He has had something of a tumultuous week – first being promoted to Chancellor following Mr Sunak’s resignation on Tuesday, then defending Boris Johnson during a gruelling broadcast round on Wednesday, before publicly calling for him to stand down on Thursday morning.
Mr Zahawi has set out a Tory leadership bid rooted in lower taxes and a “great education” for all, promising to “steady the ship” and “stabilise the economy”.
The newly-appointed Chancellor argued Britons must be trusted “to do what is best for themselves”, as he warned the country had lost a sense of “boundless optimism and opportunity” that he traced back to Margaret Thatcher’s tenure.
In his bid for leader, Mr Zahawi said: “Society is a reflection of its leaders, and under Margaret Thatcher, the Britain I knew was full of boundless optimism and opportunity.
“That has been lost and a change is needed. The country is confronting some of the greatest challenges for a lifetime.
“My aim is a simple one: to provide the opportunities that were afforded to my generation, to all Britons, whoever you are and wherever you come from. To steady the ship and to stabilise the economy.
“Thanks to Brexit, we are now a free nation. Let’s not just talk about the opportunities that follow, let’s take them.
“If a young boy, who came here aged 11 without a word of English, can serve at the highest levels of Her Majesty’s Government and run to be the next prime minister, anything is possible.”
Mr Zahawi said he would be putting three key pledges to his colleagues and Tory Party members.
He promised to cut taxes for individuals, families and business, arguing the current burden is “too high”.
Citing his experience fleeing Iraq, he said he is aware that security, safety and freedom are “things that we can never take for granted”, and argued defence spending “needs to rise”.
He added that he wants to “focus on letting children be children, protecting them from damaging and inappropriate nonsense being forced on them by radical activists”.
The Chancellor said he envisaged a nation “where your only ceiling is yourself – not the state, or society”.
“We, as Conservatives, must trust Britons to do what is best for themselves,” he said.
“Overseeing the highest tax burden since 1949 is not the Conservative way. We cannot tax our way into prosperity.
“I will guarantee that the next generation will be afforded the best education possible.
“Combined, this will begin the journey towards hope. A more prosperous nation, one which can provide the best opportunities to its next generation.”
It was reported on Saturday that Boris Johnson intends to stand down as Prime Minister on Monday in order to run again for Tory leader.
But this suggestion was knocked down by a spokesperson for Mr Johnson as completely untrue.
Tory MP Mark Francois has said he believes at least 12 people will put their names forward.
He told GB News: “I haven’t yet decided who I am going to vote for.
“It looks like this is going to be the Grand National but without the fences, so we are probably heading for at least a dozen candidates at the moment.”
Ms Badenoch announced her campaign in The Times, with a plan for a smaller state and a government “focused on the essentials”.
She is backed by Lee Rowley, the MP for North East Derbyshire, and Tom Hunt, the MP for Ipswich.
Former minister Steve Baker has thrown his support behind Ms Braverman’s bid, despite previously saying he was seriously considering putting himself forward for the top job.
Those publicly backing Mr Sunak include Commons Leader Mark Spencer, former Tory Party co-chairman Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Mark Harper, ex-ministers Liam Fox and Andrew Murrison, and MPs Sir Bob Neill, Paul Maynard and Louie French.
Other potential contenders have also received endorsements from Tory ranks, despite not yet launching a bid of their own.
MPs Chloe Smith, Julian Knight and Jackie-Doyle Price have backed Ms Truss, while Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage has declared her support for Ms Mordaunt, and former ministers Chris Philp and Rachel Maclean have said Mr Javid would be their choice for PM.
The leadership bids to date have coincided with some controversy over the appointment of new ministers to Mr Johnson’s caretaker Government.
Labour shadow minister Steve Reed lashed out at the Conservative Party after Sarah Dines, who reportedly asked an alleged victim of Chris Pincher if he was gay, was made parliamentary under-secretary of state jointly at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.
Meanwhile, education minister Andrea Jenkyns has admitted she “should have shown more composure” after making a rude sign to a “baying mob” outside Downing Street, prior to her new appointment.
Commons Leader Mark Spencer had said it was up to Ms Jenkyns to “justify” her actions after the gesture was caught on camera.
Ms Dines said she was “honoured” by her appointment, while Ms Jenkyns said she was looking forward to working with the team at the Department for Education.
Mr Sunak announced his bid for leader on Twitter on Friday afternoon, saying: “Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country.”
The absence of a clear front-runner in the leadership race has tempted a number of less-fancied contenders to step forward, with backbencher John Baron saying he will be “taking soundings” over the weekend.
Tory MP and newly-appointed minister Rehman Chishti also confirmed on Saturday he is “actively considering” running for the post.
As candidates have started to make their move, Tory MP Sir Charles Walker said it is incumbent on those running for leader that they “don’t knock lumps out of each other”.
Following elections to the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee on Monday, the new body will draw up a timetable for the leadership election.
Meanwhile, the bookies favourite Ben Wallace has pulled out of the race.
Defence Secretary Mr Wallace, 52, said this afternoon that after “careful consideration” he was ruling himself out of contention.
Taking to Twitter, Mr Wallace said his priorities lay with keeping the country safe amidst Mad Vlad’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said: “After careful consideration and discussing with colleagues and family, I have taken the decision not to enter the contest for leadership of the Conservative Party.
“I am very grateful to all my parliamentary colleagues and wider members who have pledged support.
“It has not been an easy choice to make, but my focus is on my current job and keeping this great country safe.
“I wish the very best of luck to all candidates and hope we swiftly return to focusing on the issues that we are all elected to address.”
Nadine Dorries, a big supporter of Boris Johnson, is also predicted to join the race
Pals of Priti Patel say she’s mulling a run
Ben Wallace has pulled out of the Tory leadership race
