Three Tory leadership candidates accused of 'cheap trick' over clean campaign pledge

Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid and Matt Hancock promise not to launch personal attacks - but face criticism for not inviting other candidates to join

Three Conservative leadership candidates have been accused of playing a "cheap trick" after signing a joint a pledge promising a "clean" campaign.

Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid and Matt Hancock vowed not to attack other candidates personally and to stick to campaigning rules, amid concerns that the hotly contested race could deepen Tory divisions.

But the move triggered an immediate backlash after other candidates said they had not been invited to join the pledge.

Mr Hancock had also attacked Mr Johnson hours earlier over the former foreign secretary's past comments on business.

The pledge, posted by Mr Raab on Twitter, included promises to "not speak ill of my fellow Conservatives", "not engage in personality attacks on others" and "stick strictly to the spending limits"

In an apparent dig at Mr Johnson, who has been the subject of a supportive advertising campaign run by the owner of the Guido Fawkes website, they also promised "not to allow third parties to spend money on online advertising to support my candidacy".

But Conservative MP Steve Baker, a prominent Brexiteer who is considering joining the leadership race, suggested the pledge was a "cheap trick".

He tweeted Mr Raab, Mr Javid and Mr Hancock asking: "Did you ask the other declared candidates to sign before you published this? I hope so. That cheap trick was played on Andrea Leadsom last time. Hopefully the three of you are better than that."

He added: "I am disappointed but not surprised. We can do better than this."

At least four of the other candidates are understood to not to have been approached about signing the pledge.

International development secretary Rory Stewart, who entered the contest last week, tweeted to say he would be "delighted" to sign the declaration and asked for his name to be added.

Another candidate, housing minister Kit Malthouse, said: "I'm signing up - I hope all the other candidates will too - we need to unify the party in the spirit of compromise.

Hours before signing the pledge, Mr Hancock appeared to have attacked Mr Johnson, who is widely seen as the frontrunner in the contest.

Mr Johnson reportedly exclaimed "f*** business" last year when asked about industry concerns about a no-deal Brexit, although his team insisted he had been referring to business representatives rather than actual companies.

Mr Hancock told the Financial Times: “To the people who say 'f*** business', I say f*** 'f*** business'.”