Liz Truss launches leadership bid
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has become the latest Tory to launch a campaign to become the next prime minister, saying she will cut taxes “from day one”.
In a widely-anticipated move announcing her candidacy, she said she will cut corporation tax, reverse the National Insurance rise and overhaul business rates.
In a column for the Telegraph she said:
It isn’t right to be putting up taxes now. I would reverse the National Insurance increase that came in during April, make sure we keep corporation tax competitive so we can attract business and investment into Britain, and put the Covid debt on a longer-term footing.
I will get the private sector growing faster than the public sector, with a long-term plan to bring down the size of the state and the tax burden.
Truss makes reference to growing up in Leeds “at the heart of the ‘Red Wall’” and her comprehensive school education.
She also runs through her work getting trade deals with Australia and Japan, and responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as foreign secretary.
She added: “We have to level with the British people. Times are tough, but with the right economic action and plan we will rapidly get back on track.
“I reject the voices of decline and believe firmly our best days lie ahead. We can and will deliver that progress now by ensuring spades are going into the ground, people are in jobs and more money is going to local areas.”
Key events:
Summary
Here’s the key developments as the Conservative party leadership election goes into its fourth day.
- Liz Truss has launched her leadership bid, saying she will cut taxes “from day one”. In a column for the Telegraph, she said she will cut corporation tax, reverse the National Insurance rise and overhaul business rates.
- Declarations of support have continued to come trickling in, including a notable one for Kemi Badenoch from Michael Gove, who has written a column for the Sun. He called her “brave, principled, brilliant and kind”.
- Another significant endorsement comes from Jake Berry, chairman of the Northern Research Group, who says he will be backing Tom Tugendhat for the Tory leadership. Berry says Tugendhat understands concerns of “red wall” MPs, in a column for the Daily Express.
- Another leadership bid has been launched, this time by Kent MP Rehman Chishti, who is the biggest outsider in the current field of 11 candidates.
- Paralympic athlete Jonnie Peacock is among several public figures who asked to be removed from the promotional video released by Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt as she launched her party leadership bid.
- Chancellor and leadership candidate Nadhim Zahawi has published a statement in response to a story about his tax affairs published by our sister paper the Observer, calling allegations “inaccurate and smears”.
- The Conservative party’s parliamentary body the 1922 Committee will meet tomorrow to draw up the rules for the leadership contest. It’s believed they will set a threshold for the number of nominations to get through to the next round, with varying reports of differing benchmarks. The Financial Times reports one being discussed is 36 MPs, 10% of the parliamentary party. Another has told Payne it could be 20 MPs. The Guardian has been told it could be 25.
- Sky News is the first channel to announce it will host a leadership debate between Conservative party leadership candidates on 18 July.
- Lord Zac Goldsmith and MP Chris Skidmore have written for the Telegraph (paywall) imploring candidates not to drop green commitments.
A reminder of the timetable for the election. Formal nominations will open on Tuesday, with the first round of voting taking place on Wednesday.
A shortlist of two should be finalised before parliament goes into its summer recess on 21 July.
The new prime minister will then be elected before 5 September.
Thanks for following along this evening.
More details about candidates’ policy platforms are coming to light, with tax unsurprisingly taking centre stage. The Sun has published some of the early information this evening.
Sajid Javid has said he will cut fuel duty by 10p within days of becoming prime minister. It would cost roughly £2.5bn.
The tax forms part of the price drivers pay at the pump, along with VAT. In one calculation from March, it made up 35% of the cost of petrol.
He would also cut income tax by 1p, stop the national insurance increase and cut corporation tax to 15%.
On fuel, Penny Mordaunt has said she would cut VAT from 20% to 10%, something which has the support of the founder of lobby group FairFuelUK, Howard Cox.
She too is expected to halt the national insurance rise, according to the Sun, and cut corporation tax.
Meanwhile Liz Truss looked to emphasise her tax-cutting priority when she launched her leadership bid earlier (see 21:54), and has received the support of the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng.
Peter Walker
Labour’s chair, Anneliese Dodds, has written to her Conservative counterpart to seek assurances that all Tory leadership candidates will reveal if they have ever had non-dom tax status or used arrangements such as offshore holdings or stakes in shell companies.
After revelations on Saturday about the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, the letter also requests information as to whether any of the would-be successors to Boris Johnson have been investigated over their financial affairs or had officials raise concerns about these. Zahawi has now promised to publish his tax return annually.
The fact that Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak’s wife are already known to have used non-domiciled status for UK tax purposes could be “just the tip of the iceberg”, Dodds said.
In the wake of fears about Conservative party leadership hopefuls saying they will abandon net zero targets to appease grassroots members, environmental campaigner Lord Zac Goldsmith and MP Chris Skidmore have written for the Telegraph (paywall) imploring candidates not to drop green commitments.
They warn that if they drop the net zero targets for carbon emissions the Conservative party “will be digging [its] electoral grave”.
Some excerpts include:
Cop26 was the biggest unplanned test of “Global Britain” in the post-Brexit scene, and the largest international summit we have ever hosted. When we took on the presidency, just 30% of the global economy was covered by net-zero commitments. Today it is 90%. Some 65 countries committed to phasing out coal, including four of the world’s top 20 coal-power generating countries. And critically, we secured unprecedented commitments from 143 countries representing 90 per cent of the world’s forests to protect those vital ecosystems for all of humanity.
Domestically, polling has consistently shown that voters care. In a recent poll of over 3,000 voters in marginal Red Wall seats, tackling climate change and the environment was cited as the second most important issue behind the NHS. Around 53% wanted more action on climate change, compared to 9% who did not.
Some candidates are already promising to abandon our climate and environment commitments, and others are maintaining an ominous silence. Yet if we throw away the UK’s international leadership on the environment, we will lose the support of a broad coalition of voters. We will be digging our electoral grave.
Rehman Chishti becomes 11th candidate to enter race
Following on the back of Liz Truss’ announcement, another leadership bid has been launched, this time by Kent MP Rehman Chishti.
Chishti, who was appointed as a minister in the Foreign Office last week, has become the 11th candidate to announce he will stand. He had previously teased he might run in an interview with PoliticsHome last week. The 43-year-old, who went to Aberystwyth University, enters the contest as its biggest outsider.
In a marked contrast with Rishi Sunak’s slick video, or even Sajid Javid’s repurposed one from 2019, Chishti has posted an address to camera on his Facebook page.
In it he said he offers a “fresh start”, similar to Tom Tugenhadt’s “clean start” that he repeated during his breakfast TV interviews earlier.
Chishti mentions coming to Gillingham in 1984 and not being able to speak any English.
“For me it’s important to ensure that everyone who works hard, who is determined, who is perseveres has a government that is on their side. That means lower taxes, small state, [and a] big society.
“It means ensuring that you have fresh ideas, and a proven track record of coming to the table with ideas and creativity to help improve people’s lives,” he said.
“For me it’s about aspirational conservatism, fresh ideas, fresh team for a fresh start taking our great country forward.”
Liz Truss launches leadership bid
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has become the latest Tory to launch a campaign to become the next prime minister, saying she will cut taxes “from day one”.
In a widely-anticipated move announcing her candidacy, she said she will cut corporation tax, reverse the National Insurance rise and overhaul business rates.
In a column for the Telegraph she said:
It isn’t right to be putting up taxes now. I would reverse the National Insurance increase that came in during April, make sure we keep corporation tax competitive so we can attract business and investment into Britain, and put the Covid debt on a longer-term footing.
I will get the private sector growing faster than the public sector, with a long-term plan to bring down the size of the state and the tax burden.
Truss makes reference to growing up in Leeds “at the heart of the ‘Red Wall’” and her comprehensive school education.
She also runs through her work getting trade deals with Australia and Japan, and responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as foreign secretary.
She added: “We have to level with the British people. Times are tough, but with the right economic action and plan we will rapidly get back on track.
“I reject the voices of decline and believe firmly our best days lie ahead. We can and will deliver that progress now by ensuring spades are going into the ground, people are in jobs and more money is going to local areas.”
Sky News is the first channel to announce it will host a leadership debate between Conservative party leadership candidates on 18 July.
It will be hosted by the broadcaster’s mainstay Kay Burley from Sky’s studios in west London, and questions will be asked by a virtual audience.
Alexandra Topping
If your head is reeling after the breathless psychodrama of the last few days , you are not alone. Yet, even before the black door of Downing Street had shut behind Boris Johnson, the contest for his successor was well under way.
If you are yet to get a firm handle on the runners and riders – never fear, help is at hand. Take a deep breath and jump in
Tory 1922 Committee to set nomination threshold for election – reports
The Conservative party’s parliamentary body the 1922 Committee will meet tomorrow to draw up the rules for the leadership contest.
The Financial Times’ Sebastian Payne reports that senior figures within the backbench group will decide the threshold for candidates to make it onto the ballot paper.
Different levels of nominations are being briefed out by MPs.
One being discussed is 36 MPs, 10% of the parliamentary party, which only Rishi Sunak looks close to getting at the moment – albeit it is still the early days of the contest. Another has told Payne it could be 20 MPs.
Meanwhile my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti and Peter Walker have said it could be 25 MPs.
Formal nominations will open on Tuesday, with the first round taking place on Wednesday. A shortlist of two should be finalised before parliament goes into its summer recess on 21 July.
The new prime minister will then be elected before 5 September.
Another significant endorsement tonight comes from Jake Berry, chairman of the Northern Research Group, who says he will be backing Tom Tugendhat for the Tory leadership.
The Northern Research Group was founded after the 2019 general election, where large numbers of Conservative MPs were elected in the “red wall”. It is effectively the parliamentary Tory body representing MPs in those areas, which currently look under threat as a result of Labour’s comfortable polling lead, and to which the party’s current majority is largely owed.
Writing in the Daily Express, Berry said that his support comes after Tugendhat was the only MP who is in the leadership contest to attend a recent conference in Doncaster, one that Boris Johnson chose to skip in favour of a trip to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Berry said:
[Tugendhat] pointed out that conversation in conservatism has for too long been about finance, understandable because the City drives so much of our economy. But while it drives our economy, it doesn’t guarantee our liberty.
He argued that what truly guarantees our liberty is our manufacturing, the heart of industry which is northern conservatism. He doesn’t see the negativity that Labour paints it with.
Like us, he sees extraordinary opportunity.
Northern MPs fight for results. Change cannot be delivered by simply shuffling the pack. We need a new deck.
It is time for a clean start, a New Deal for Britain – the man to deliver that is Tom Tugendhat.
Michael Gove endorses Kemi Badenoch
A fairly sizable declaration of support for Kemi Badenoch from Michael Gove, who has written a column for the Sun this evening.
Gove was sacked as levelling up secretary on Wednesday night in one of Boris Johnson’s final big moves before he announced he was standing down on Thursday.
Earlier in the day he had told Johnson he had to resign in the wake of mounting resignations and unhappiness over his leadership. Instead Johnson sacked him hours later.
Gove is a major figure in the Conservative party, and his support could prove to be a big boost to Badenoch’s campaign. He previously ran for the leadership himself in 2016, derailing Johnson’s nascent campaign in the process.
I’ve worked with Kemi since before she became an MP and served alongside her in Government. She is brave, principled, brilliant and kind.
She led on the government’s response to Tony Sewell’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic disparities.
The commission’s report had provoked controversy.
But Kemi didn’t flinch. She came up with concrete measures to remove barriers to opportunity while taking on the mumbo jumbo peddled by left wing culture warriors that only deepen division and foster zero sum identity politics.
She dominated in the Commons chamber as only a minister both on top of her brief and fired by conviction can.
Kemi doesn’t just win the argument, she delivers – on getting the Whitehall machine to embark on new policies and on levelling up Britain.
He goes on to praise her “focus, intellect and no-bullshit drive”, and calls her Sir Keir Starmer’s “worst nightmare”.
