Struggle for leadership of Conservative Party begins as 'Jeremy Hunt rules himself out of the running'
6 July 2024, 10:27 | Updated: 6 July 2024, 11:14
Leadership contenders for the Conservative Party are jockeying for position after the disastrous General Election, with Rishi Sunak set to step down.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, Priti Patel and Suella Braverman are among the favourites to be the new leader of the opposition when Mr Sunak quits. Jeremy Hunt is said to have ruled himself out.
Some in the party are predicting a "bloodbath" over the direction of the party, which has come under pressure from Nigel Farage's Reform UK on the right, and the Liberal Democrats on the left.
David Gauke, the former Justice Secretary from the liberal wing of the party who resigned because he did not want to serve under Boris Johnson, said the party needed to restore its "credibility".
He told LBC's Matthew Wright: "I think in terms of the direction of the party... there have been three occasions in in in recent years, where a party has gone from opposition to government: 1997 Tony Blair, 2010, David Cameron, and now this week, we've got Keir Starmer.
Read more: Starmer prepares to hold first cabinet meeting as PM sets out Labour's mandate for change
"In all three cases, those leaders provided an opposition that looked credible, that look serious, and essentially occupied the centre ground of British politics.
"And I think if the Conservative Party wants to recover, and wants to be back in office... it needs to recognise that... the General Election result is that the Conservatives have lost votes in all directions.
"They've lost votes to the right, there's no denying that with Reform, but they have also lost a lot of votes to the Liberal Democrats and to the Labour Party. And the this does come down to competence, it comes down to a reputation of integrity. I think that got lost by the Conservatives in recent years."
Mr Gauke said that was largely because "they turned themselves into a populist party".
He said: "They made promises that couldn't be delivered. Therefore, they broke their word, and looked incompetent. And I think if you want to recover the party, you know that credibility is really, really important.
"And that means resisting the cause of being a protest party of being an outlet for anger, it essentially has to be a body that is about credibility and an ability to govern the country properly. And I think that's the move more towards the centre ground, not towards Nigel Farage and Reform".
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who is on the right of the party, is the bookies' favourite to take over from Mr Sunak.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who have both argued strongly in favour of cutting immigration, are also among the frontrunners. Ms Braverman said on Saturday that she had "no announcements", adding "we've just got to take our time".
But former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and security minister Tom Tugendhat, both in the centre of the party, have also been touted as possible future leaders. Mr Hunt is said to have ruled himself out of the race on Saturday.
One party insider said that the Conservative Party would "suffer a kind of nervous breakdown, which will continue for a wee while."
"And it's then going to be necessary to find a way forward," they told the Mail.
Mr Sunak is still currently leader of the party, and it is unclear when exactly he will stand down.
Some believe he may stay in post over the summer, while others want him to step away before the next Prime Minister's Questions on July 17.
