Hancock and Hunt are first Cabinet ministers to throw hats in the ring
Health and Foreign Secretaries start race for succession, with Johnson, Raab and Leadsom swelling the list of contenders
‘I’m proud of our past and excited about our future. I am ready to lead this great party and great country’
MATT HANCOCK is today poised to announce he is standing for the leadership of the Conservative Party and say that he is “ready to lead this great party and great country”.
The Health Secretary, a Remainer who is positioning himself as a One Nation Tory who backs Brexit, is expected to announce his candidacy in a broadcast interview this morning.
Earlier this week, he hosted a drinks party attended by donors, supporters and dozens of MPS, including at least four Cabinet ministers.
He told those attending: “We need to be confident about the future of our country. I’m proud of our past and excited about our future. And when the time comes, I am ready. I am ready to lead this great party and great country.”
The Prime Minister’s decision to announce a date for her departure triggered a scramble among Tory leadership candidates.
Jeremy Hunt became the first Cabinet minister to announce that he is standing – after playing a pivotal role in Theresa May’s resignation.
The Foreign Secretary met the Prime Minister on Thursday and urged her to pull her Brexit deal in a one-to-one meeting in Downing Street.
Yesterday at the Haslemere Festival in his South West Surrey constituency, he said it was “only right” that his local party should be the first to know about his candidacy.
The seven-week contest is expected to attract one of the biggest fields of candidates for any Conservative Party leadership contest.
Mr Hunt and Mr Hancock are among at least seven members of the Cabinet expected to stand in a race which could include as many as 18 candidates.
Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Rory Stewart, the International Development Secretary, are all expected to run. Penny Mordaunt, the Defence Secretary, is also considering making a pitch for the top job.
There is also a wide range of candidates outside Cabinet, led by Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, the former Brexit Secretary.
Andrea Leadsom, the former Leader of the Commons, is also expected to announce at the weekend that she will be standing.
Mr Johnson, another former foreign secretary, confirmed that he will “of course” be running for the leadership.
He made clear that he was prepared to take Britain out of the European Union without a deal if it failed to reach an agreement with Brussels. He said: “A new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration.
“We will leave the EU on Oct 31, deal or no deal. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no-deal.”
The Prime Minister yesterday announced that she would step down as Conservative leader on Friday June 7, firing the starting gun for the party leadership election.
Mr Hunt later paid tribute to her in a speech at the Haslemere Festival.
The Farnham Herald reported him saying: “Her passion was to deliver the Brexit referendum result. That will now be someone else’s responsibility.
“Whoever succeeds in doing that will know she laid the foundations.
“I’ll make the announcement on my own candidacy at the appropriate time.
“This is a day to remember Theresa May’s duty, her sense of service, the fact she has done her job with enormous integrity.” Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee who yesterday met Mrs May in Downing Street shortly before her resignation, is also expected to stand.
He told the BBC: “I have made the decision to stand down as chair of the 1922 Committee in order to ensure a fair and transparent election process.
“I am considering the approaches I have received and will make a decision in due course.”
His decision surprised friends, who said that they did not anticipate him “having much success”, and suggested that he is standing for the leadership as part of a bid to secure a Cabinet job under the next prime minister.
Steve Baker, a former Brexit minister and hardline Eurosceptic, also made clear that he is considering standing.
He said: “People have been asking me to stand. I’ve had a lot of pressure to say I should stand. So I must consider it, out of respect for colleagues and members of the public.”
Sir Vince Cable has triggered a Liberal Democrat leadership contest with his replacement due to take over on July 23.
Sir Ed Davey, the former energy secretary, and Jo Swinson, the deputy leader, are viewed as the favourites for the job.
Sir Vince has been party leader since July 2017 and had said he would stand down after the European elections.
The leadership contest is only open to Lib Dem MPS who will need the support of at least 200 activists from no fewer than 20 local parties to make it on to the ballot paper.
Nominations will close on June 7.