Home Secretary Sajid Javid has thrown his hat in the ring in the race to replace Theresa May .
Mr Javid declared on the same day the Conservatives suffered their worst election defeat in 200 years.
They collapsed into fifth place – taking less than 10% of the vote nationally.
In a slick video Mr Javid announced he was standing to lead the Conservatives.
He said: “I’m standing to be the next leader of Conservatives & Prime Minister of our great country.
“We need to restore trust, bring unity and create new opportunities across the UK. First and foremost, we must deliver Brexit.”
EarlierMr Javid branded the Conservative Party’s performance in European elections “hugely disappointing” and said his party needed to unite to deliver Brexit .
“Hugely disappointing results – but this is a verdict on our delivery of Brexit. There’s a clear lesson: people want us to get on with it,” Mr Javid tweeted.
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Just four Conservatives were elected in England, Scotland and Wales, while the Brexit Party had 29 seats, overtaking the 24 MEPs that Mr Farage’s former party Ukip sent to the European Parliament in 2014.
Theresa May said it was a “very disappointing night” for the Conservatives.
(Image: SWISS ECONOMIC FORUM/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX)
“Some excellent MEPs have lost their seats, some excellent candidates missed out. But Labour have also suffered big losses.
“It shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in Parliament.”
Mr Javid becomes the ninth person to declare to stand in the race which has become increasingly crowded.
It comes after Theresa May announced last Friday that she will stand down on June 7 launching a contest to elect her sucessor.
The results saw many of the candidates comment on where they think the Tories went wrong.
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Boris Johnson, the front-runner in the Tory leadership race, has said the party could be “fired from running the country” if it does not deliver Brexit.
Writing in Telegraph, he said voters in the EU election issued a “crushing rebuke” to the Conservatives.
Fellow candidate, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, said the party faces an “existential risk” over Brexit.
Other candidates include Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey, Dominic Rabb and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart.
Former chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady and backbencher Priti Patel are among other candidates considering a run for the top job.
