Tory MP eyes Number 10 as party chooses its new leader
One MP tipped to be the next Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party has made it through to the next stages, while a Kent counterpart bowed out just two days after entering.
Tonbridge and Malling’s Tom Tugendhat has emerged as one of the favourites to succeed Boris Johnson in the race for the keys to Downing Street.
The former soldier served in the British Army for more than a decade, including in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now one of the major candidates in the leadership battle.
As chairman of the influential foreign affairs select committee, he has proved an effective inquisitor and has not held back in criticising his own government.
He made an intervention in the Commons over the government’s handling of the Afghan refugee crisis, which was widely acclaimed.
Listened to in silence by his fellow MPs, he spoke about his struggle through anger, grief and rage at what he described as the “abandonment of a country”.
On Tuesday, Gillingham and Rainham’s Rehman Chishti ended his bid after two days.
Mr Tugendhat refused to say what level of support he had from other MPs, telling the Messenger:
“I’m not going there. But yes, I do expect to make the final two.
“I’m very confident that we’ve got a fantastic team of parliamentarians and the team of others who are communicating extremely effectively.
“The message that we want to get out there is this isn’t just about winning the Conservative leadership election. This is about winning the country. The whole point of winning as leader of the Conservative Party is to make sure Conservative ideas flourish and prosper across the country.”
When asked about his claim that trust in politicians was collapsing and if he had some responsibility, he said: “On the contrary, I’ve been holding the system to account as the chair of the foreign affairs committee and as the chair of the liaison committee.”
First elected in 2015, he said the UK is like a “jet airliner flying one engine” when asked about the economy.
He added: “What we actually need is to make sure we get the other engine flying and burning at full speed because we need to be seeing our economy powering along.” On controversial planning reforms that have pitched local councils and residents against developers.
He said: “We’ve got to make sure that we respect the greenbelt and people to make decisions for their communities.”