Rishi can inspire a political recovery to pull us out of these bleak times

This election for the leadership of the Conservative Party comes at a time of great crisis – not, of course as existential as the crisis of May 1940, when Winston Churchill became prime minister despite the fact that he was not the preferred candidate of the Party – but crisis none the less. We are not really out of the pandemic, with cases rising at an alarming rate. We have to deal with inflation on a scale we have not seen for a generation. And we have a war in Europe which looks as though it could go grinding on for a long time.

These challenges will need exceptional leadership if we are to overcome them. At the beginning of the contest I was not entirely sure which of the candidates I would support. But as it has gone on it has become crystal clear that there is only one person who can provide us with the leadership we need so badly.

The most immediate of these challenges is inflation. Unless we can bring it under control the prospects for our economy are dire.

The most vulnerable in our society will suffer most, we can look forward to more strikes and industrial conflict and our economy will not grow as we all want it to. So economic competence is at an absolute premium. We are fortunate to have a candidate who has shown that he is capable of dealing with economic challenges and steering us through very turbulent times.

Some of us remember the calamitous forecasts that accompanied the start of the pandemic.

Unemployment was going to rise to staggering rates, millions of firms were going to shut down and the world as we knew it was about to fall down around us. None of this happened and Rishi Sunak is the man who deserves the credit for that achievement. Thanks to Rishi’s furlough scheme we came through that storm and today we have unemployment at a record low.

This did, of course, require an increase in public spending which is one of the main reasons why debt is so high. But does anyone seriously suggest that we could have got through the pandemic without government intervention of this kind?

Because debt is so high it would be foolish for us to embark on a taxcutting spree which would lead to even higher debt and feed the monster of inflation that we must tame.

That is why Rishi is right to insist that we must bring down inflation first and steer our economy to a place where it would be safe to cut taxes.

I was privileged to serve in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet. She certainly did not believe in cutting taxes in an irresponsible way. Nor does Rishi and he is absolutely right.

By tackling our economic challenges head on, with skill and determination, Rishi Sunak can bring inflation under control, cut taxes and get our economy growing again.

And I have no doubt that he can inspire political recovery for our party.

I am old enough to remember Suez. A few months after that debacle, when our party and country were at a very low ebb, Harold Macmillan became prime minister.

Two years later he won a general election with a majority of a hundred. I am convinced that Rishi Sunak can emulate that achievement.

Public polling shows that even now he would beat Sir Keir Starmer. After two years of Rishi Sunak’s leadership I have no doubt that we would win.

Rishi and I both voted for Brexit. We believed then and we believe now that the best days for our country are yet to come. Free from the shackles of the European Union we can chart an independent course for our country which will make the most of our great talent and enterprise.

Time and time again in our history when things looked bleak we have been fortunate enough to discover inspirational leadership which has pulled us through. I believe that there is only one person who can provide that leadership today. That person is Rishi Sunak.