Markus Andrews

Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has put herself forward as a candidate to become the new Conservative party leader as prime minister, promising “limited government”.The MP for Saffron Walden said she supported lower taxes “to boost growth and productivity, and accompanied by tight spending discipline”.Promising to be anti-woke candidate, she also hit out at “identity politics” and said Boris Johnson was “a symptom of the problems we face, not the cause of them”.“People are exhausted by platitudes and empty rhetoric. Loving our country, our people or our party is not enough,” she wrote in The Times.“What’s missing is an intellectual grasp of what is required to run the country in an era of increased polarisation, protectionism and populism amplified by social media.”RecommendedShe said governing Britain today requires “a nimble centre-right vision” that “can achieve things despite entrenched opposition from a cultural establishment that will not accept that the world has moved on from Blairism”.Ms Badenoch’s declaration capped off a day that saw many Tories declaring allegiances in the leadership race.Rishi Sunak declared his much anticipated intention to run, enjoying public backing from Commons leader Mark Spencer, former Tory party co-chairman Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Mark Harper, ex-ministers Liam Fox and Andrew Murrison, and MPs Sir Bob Neill and Paul Maynard.Former minister Steve Baker backed attorney general Suella Braverman’s campaign – withdrawing an earlier suggestion he would contend for the job.Tory MPs Chloe Smith and Julian Knight both expressed their support for foreign secretary Liz Truss on Friday, although she is yet to launch a bid.Backbencher John Baron said he will be “taking soundings” over the weekend and Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, has already said he will be be putting his name forward.Lee Rowley, MP for North East Derbyshire, said he was backing Ms Badenoch.Recommended“Kemi’s clarity of analysis about the problems our country faces and her willingness to take tough decisions are exactly why colleagues should back her,” he said.More campaign launches, including those of Ms Truss and defence secretary Ben Wallace, are expected in the coming days. More

A Tory MP who reportedly asked an alleged victim of Chris Pincher if he was gay has been made a minister in Boris Johnson’s caretaker cabinet.Sarah Dines, who has been appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state jointly at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), was said to have told the accuser his case was not “straightforward” based on his sexuality.The Sunday Times reported claims that Ms Dines – then an assistant whip – witnessed the alleged assault at the exclusive Carlton Club in London last week, after which she asked the accuser if he was gay.The alleged victim told the newspaper: “I was a bit taken aback by that and said, ‘What’s that got to do with it? But yes, I am’.“And her words were, ‘Well, that doesn’t make it straightforward’. She saw everything, which is why I am so angry.”RecommendedMs Dines, the MP for Derbyshire Dales, was said to have later escalated the matter by reporting the alleged incident to her superiors.Her reported comments were put to Mr Johnson as he was quizzed by the Commons Liaison Committee earlier this week, with Labour MP Chris Bryant asking if they amounted to “victim shaming”.Mr Johnson said he had not spoken to Ms Dines about the matter, but said: “I very much doubt that Sarah meant to put it that way”.Mr Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip last Thursday after allegedly assaulting two fellow guests at the Carlton Club the evening before.He had the Conservative whip suspended the following day after a formal complaint was made to parliament’s watchdog that examines allegations of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct, and now faces an investigation.Mr Pincher said at the weekend he was “truly sorry” for upset he had caused after he “drank far too much” that Wednesday, and vowed to fully co-operate with the inquiry, adding that he was seeking “professional medical support”.Downing Street initially said Mr Johnson had no knowledge of previous allegations against Mr Pincher, but the now-outgoing PM later acknowledged he had been informed of inappropriate behaviour dating back to 2019.Mr Johnson said he regretted keeping him in government beyond that point.The row over the Pincher scandal unleashed a wave of pent-up frustration with Mr Johnson’s leadership, culminating in mass resignations and, ultimately, the PM’s downfall.RecommendedIn addition to Ms Dines’ new role, Downing Street announced six fresh appointments on Friday afternoon. Richard Fuller has been made economic secretary to the Treasury, Stuart Andrew has been appointed minister of state at the Ministry of Justice, and Alan Mak is now exchequer secretary to the Treasury.Rehman Chishti, Lia Nici and Brendan Clarke-Smith have been made parliamentary under-secretaries of state at the Foreign Office, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Department for Education, respectively.Ms Dines has been approached for comment. More

Rishi Sunak has entered the Tory leadership race vowing to “restore trust” after Boris Johnson’s multiple scandals, but with a warning that the country cannot afford early tax cuts.The former chancellor – the favourite with the public – also hinted that he would end the “culture wars” the current prime minister has relished fighting, promising: “We’ve had enough of division.”Stealing a march on his rivals, with Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt and Ben Wallace expected to launch their campaigns this weekend, Mr Sunak cast himself as the fiscally responsible candidate, resisting the clamour for tax cuts.Mr Sunak also launched a website, ready4rishi.com, which – as The Independent exclusively revealed in January – set hares running at No 10 when it first appeared in September 2020. At the time sources close to Mr Sunak described the claims, along with those relating to the chancellor having prepared a leadership campaign, as “totally false”.“Do we confront this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination, or do we tell ourselves comforting fairytales that might make us feel better in the moment but will leave our children worse off tomorrow?” asked a slick video that was tweeted just after 4pm on Friday.RecommendedAnd he suggested that the culture wars Mr Johnson has waged over refugees, trans rights, statues and taking the knee would be wound down if he were to become prime minister.“We’ve had enough of division. Politics at its best is a unifying endeavour, and I have spent my career bringing people together. Because that is the only way to succeed,” the video said.The launch made Mr Sunak the third declared candidate, alongside Tom Tugendhat, the inexperienced chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, and Brexiteer attorney general Suella Braverman.Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch became the fourth to launch a bid for the Tory leadership on Friday.Ms Badenoch, who resigned from her post on Wednesday, wrote in The Times that she would lower taxes alongside “tight spending” and that she wanted to run a “limited government focused on the essentials”.The Independent understands that Mr Hunt, who lost to Mr Johnson in 2019, will launch his campaign on Sunday, when the foreign secretary Liz Truss is also expected to enter the race.Mr Wallace is still mulling over a bid in discussions with friends and family, but is expected to make his pitch and is thought to have the backing of around 30 supporters of Mr Johnson from three years ago.The party’s 1922 Committee will decide the timetable for the first stage of the election on Monday, which will see Conservative MPs whittle down the candidates to a shortlist of just two.Voting could take place on almost every Commons sitting day to complete the process by the time MPs leave for their summer recess on 21 July.Conservative members will then make the final choice, after hustings across the country, with the aim of declaring the winner in late August – although there is pressure to move faster.Mr Sunak’s chances of replacing Mr Johnson appeared to have been sunk when The Independent revealed his wife’s tax-reducing non-dom status and he admitted holding a US green card while he was chancellor.His standing has been revived, not least by his resignation this week over the Chris Pincher scandal, but Tory members might resent his caution over immediate tax cuts favoured by other candidates.The former chancellor won the immediate endorsement of several senior Tories, including Commons leader Mark Spencer and former ministers Mark Harper and Bob Neill.The Independent has revealed how a whistleblower says a focus group he authorised under a £500,000 taxpayer-funded deal was an attempt to “improve the Tories’ image” – despite official denials.In Mr Sunak’s three-minute video, he spoke of his immigrant grandmother arriving in the UK “armed with hope for a better life”, saving enough money to bring over her family.“One of those children was my mother, aged 15. My mum studied hard and got the qualifications to become a pharmacist. She met my dad, an NHS GP, and they settled in Southampton,” he related.The video added: “Their story didn’t end there, but that is where my story began” – a story Mr Sunak now hopes will take him to 10 Downing Street.Nadhim Zahawi, the current chancellor, the trade minister Penny Mordaunt, the former health secretary Sajid Javid, the ex-Brexit minister Steve Baker and the Northern Research Group chair Jake Berry are also expected to be candidates.RecommendedComparisons to the Grand National race grew after a little-known backbencher astonished colleagues by saying he might “throw my hat in the ring”.John Baron said: “I am going to take soundings over the weekend, so I’m keeping my powder dry. I will be talking to a few people over the weekend and we will see what happens.” More

A Brexit-backing MP who gave Boris Johnson protesters the middle finger after he resigned has been given a job as an education minister.Andrea Jenkyns, a Johnson loyalist, shouted “wait and see” to crowds who went to watch his resignation.Raising a finger in the air for emphasis, Ms Jenkyns appeared to defy the hecklers, calling: “Those who laugh last, laugh loudest”.The member of the European Research Group gave the middle finger as she walked away.Now, just over 24 hours later, Ms Jenkyns has been given the role of education minister.Recommended More

Cabinet minister Dominic Raab would have been caretaker prime minister in an “ideal world” the treasurer of the Conservatives’ 1922 committee has said, but conceded: “That ship has sailed”.The comments from Sir Geoffrey Clinton-Brown came after Boris Johnson filled vacant cabinet roles, pledging not to “implement new policies or make major changes of direction” during his remaining time in office.But amid anger over the prime minister’s conduct, a series of Conservative backbenchers called for Mr Johnson to resign immediately — rather than acting as a caretaker PM until a new Tory leader is elected. More

Boris Johnson’s resignation has sparked questions as to where his career will go next as he awaits the election of a new Tory leader to replace him as prime minister.While the Uxbridge MP was mayor of London, he was paid about £250,000 a year for his second job writing columns for The Telegraph newspaper. In a 2009 interview, he dismissed the sum as “chicken feed” and said his comment was just him being “frivolous”. Now forced to give up his main job, it’s likely that he will consider turning his hand back to journalism because he could get paid higher rates that even he could take seriously. More

Nadine Dorries is reportedly considering entering the race to become the next leader of the Tory party.The culture secretary is a known die-hard Boris Johnson loyalist and thinks she can be a “continuation” candidate that will carry the prime minister’s policies and ideas forward after he leaves the post later this year.A source close to Ms Dorries told Mail+: “Nadine is seriously considering throwing her hat in the ring, as she is passionate about Boris’s levelling up agenda, defending Brexit and fighting woke culture. She wants to keep Boris’s flame alive.”It comes as the former chancellor Rishi Sunak – who quit on Tuesday prompting the wave of resignations against Mr Johnson – launched his leadership bid.In a video posted on social media, Mr Sunak promised to “restore trust” after the prime minister’s scandal-ridden tenure and also hinted he would end the culture wars which were so keenly stoked by Mr Johnson.RecommendedHe is the third candidate to declare his intention to run, alongside Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, and attorney general Suella Braverman.Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and Jeremy Hunt are expected to launch their own bids imminently, alongside further rumoured entrants such as transport minister Grant Shapps.A number of surprising names have also emerged among Tory backbenchers who could also consider a crack at the leadership.Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti and Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron, both relatively inexperienced, are also understood to be mulling over putting their names in the hat.The ever-lengthening list of MPs considering a leadership bid is making Tory party chiefs jittery as they fear a prolonged contest and ever-increasing ‘Blue on Blue’ attacks.Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and ex-cabinet minister Michael Gove, who was sacked earlier this week, have ruled themselves out of the contest, The Independent understands.RecommendedThe first phase of the leadership contest begins with a series of secret ballots by MPs. This list is then whittled down to a final two and is expected to be concluded by July 21 when the Commons breaks for the summer.It will then go to a final postal ballot of party members in the country. It is thought likely that it will be concluded by the time Parliament returns in early September. More

A Conservative backbencher has accidentally revealed instructions apparently sent by Rishi Sunak’s team to Tory MPs on how to post on social media to support the former chancellor in the party leadership race.The prepared Twitter post, which came just two hours after Mr Sunak revealed he was standing for Tory leader, included a quote purporting to be from the MP posting it, pasted across that MP’s own photograph.The instructions said: “If you’re happy, can you tweet and include the hashtag Ready4Rishi, and crucially the website Ready4rishi.com, and then your infographic below,” the suggestion read.The identical quote that all posters were to use said: “I’m backing Rishi as he will tackle inflation, grow the economy and cut taxes.“Rishi is why we have record low unemployment today. And that’s why he’s the best man to lead the country.”RecommendedBackbencher Paul Maynard accidentally tweeted a post that included the instructions – but quickly deleted the tweet and replaced it with a post as it was supposed to look.Users mocked him, saying his first post, prepared by public-relations people, was better.Earlier, just before Mr Sunak’s announcement, Mr Maynard invited Facebook followers in his Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency to complete a survey on who they thought should be the next prime minister.RecommendedStealing a march on rivals Jeremy Hunt, Liz Truss and Ben Wallace in throwing his hat into the ring, Mr Sunak cast himself as the fiscally responsible candidate, resisting the clamour for tax cuts.He vowed to “restore trust” after Boris Johnson’s multiple scandals, hinting he would end “culture wars” if he became prime minister. More