Tom Tugendhat and Robert Jenrick join Tory leadership race as James Cleverly leads with MP endorsements - live
Three Tories have thrown their hats in the ring as the three-month leadership contest to replace Rishi Sunak begins
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Your support makes all the difference.Robert Jenrick is the third Tory MP to announce his bid to become the next leader of theĀ Conservative party after Tom Tugendhat submitted his papers.
The two contenders will challenge James Cleverly and other MPs hoping to replace the outgoing Rishi Sunak after the election defeat.
Mr Tugendhat, seen as a candidate from the moderate wing of the party, indicated he would be prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if needed to regain control of UK borders.
Shadow home secretary Mr Cleverly is currently leading the leadership race with three endorsements from Tory MPs, including Gagan Mohindra, Peter Fortune and Simon Hoare.
Kemi Badenoch could be throwing her hat in the ring soon after her leadership website was spotted under maintenance.
Other former cabinet ministers expected to announce their bids include Priti Patel, Mel Stride andĀ Suella Braverman.
The Conservative Party willĀ appoint a new leader on 2 November and contenders have until Monday to win the support of the 10 MPs they need to make it onto the ballot paper.
Tom Tugendhat - most popular candidate - insists he can lead party to victory
Writing in the Telegraph the shadow security minister said: āI am not just running to be the next leader of the Conservative Party.
āI am running to be the next Conservative prime minister.
āThat is what this leadership election is all about: winning. We canāt serve the British people if we donāt win the next general election. We can win it. We must win it. I can lead the party to that victory.ā
Tom Tugendhat throws hat in ring for leadership
Tom Tugendhat indicated he would be prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights if it was necessary to restore control over the UKās borders.
The shadow security minister, seen as a candidate from the moderate wing of the party, insisted the leadership contest would not split the Tories.
āSome people think the Conservative leadership election will be divisive, splitting the party,ā he wrote in the Telegraph.
āThatās wrong because actually, thereās a long list of things this election isnāt about. The ECHR. Gender. Tax rates. Defence spending. Net zero.
āThese are things that arenāt up for debate in this leadership election. Why not? Because politics is about principles and all Conservatives are guided by our basic principles here.
āWe 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. We know what a woman is. We all want lower taxes. We all know national security must come before Treasury spreadsheets. We all know that energy security and household bills come first.ā
Most popular Tory candidate to replace Rishi Sunak revealed - poll
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, Savantaās findings suggest, at minus nine points with the public and 19 points among 2024 Conservative voters.
Victoria Atkins rules herself out of leadership race
Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins, who had been the subject of leadership speculation, ruled herself out in a Telegraph article.
She said: āI 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.
āUntil 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.ā
Tom Tugendhat least hated Tory leadership contender, new poll reveals
Tom Tugendhat has emerged as an early frontrunner in the Tory leadership contest because he has the lowest negative rating with members of the public.
Tom Tugendhat least hated Tory leadership contender, new poll reveals
Tom Tugendhat has emerged as an early Tory leadership favourite with the public
Seven MPs vying for leadership battle - Report
Sky News are reporting that at least seven MPs are set to contest for the Tory leadership after their teams collected the paperwork needed to nominate someone to replace Rishi Sunak.
The likely candidates are expected to be James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride and Suella Braverman.
The official nominations do not close until Monday so more candidates are likely to join the race.
Sky are reporting that senior Tory MPs believe Mel Stride and Suella Braverman to be the least likely to win the contest.
Cleverly dismisses Reform UK merger
James Cleverly has ruled out a merger between the Conservative Party and Nigel Farageās Reform UK if he becomes the next leader.
āThe Conservative Party doesnāt do mergers. The simple truth is that we have got a series of principles, ā Mr Cleverly told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
āWe believe in civil liberty. We believe in free enterprise. We believe in efficient but modest size of the state, lower taxesā¦ those are our principles, that is our agenda. What we need to do is expand our base of support.ā
Conservative MP says he will nominate Priti Patel
A Conservative MP said he will nominate Dame Priti Patel to be the next Tory leader.
Sir Alec Shelbrooke said the former home secretary is ārespected on all wings of the partyā.
He told GB News: āI will be nominating Priti Patel because I think Priti has not just the pragmatic approach to all the issues but she was also there, brought into CCHQ, by Cecil Parkinson in 1997 about how to rebuild the Conservative Party after that defeat.
āYou get this pattern in government, that after a long period of time in government, the structure starts to fall down. You think it would do the opposite, but it doesnāt. Youāre so busy on governing that the structure falls down. That is task number one.
āPriti has had senior roles and sheās respected on all wings of the party, and I think thatās an important point. And it comes back to weāve got to have a conservative leader representing the Conservative Party and get away from these different gangs that have formed and have been fighting with each other.ā
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly has said he is running to be the next leader of the Conservative Party.
In a video posted to social media announcing his candidacy, the former foreign and home secretary said the Conservatives needed to āre-establish our reputation as the party who, in government, helps grow the economy, helps people achieve their goals, their dreams, and their aspirationsā.
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