Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi - appointed just days ago following the resignation of his predecessor Rishi Sunak - has announced a bid to become the next Conservative Party leader. It means he is the third serving Government minister to launch a campaign, following on from Attorney General Suella Braverman and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
In addition to Mr Shapps and Ms Braverman, Mr Sunak, ex-minister Kemi Badenoch and senior Tory Tom Tugendhat have launched their own bids. Further announcements are anticipated over the coming days.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that after “careful consideration” and discussion with colleagues and family, he would not stand to be party leader and the next prime minister. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is widely expected to stand, while other potential frontrunners include trade minister Penny Mordaunt and former health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt.
Launching his campaign, Mr Zahawi pledged to lower taxes for individuals, families and business, boost defence spending, and continue with education reforms that he started in his previous role. Born in Iraq to a Kurdish family, the new Chancellor came to the UK as a nine-year-old when his parents fled the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Believed to be one of the richest politicians in the House of Commons, he helped found polling company YouGov after studying chemical engineering at University College London. He has often said that his own personal backstory has deeply influenced his view of Britain and he recently spoke of the debt he owed poet Philip Larkin as he improved his English as a teenager.
In his bid for leader, Mr Zahawi said: “My aim is a simple one: to provide the opportunities that were afforded to my generation, to all Britons, whoever you are and wherever you come from. To steady the ship and to stabilise the economy.
“Thanks to Brexit, we are now a free nation. Let’s not just talk about the opportunities that follow, let’s take them.
“If a young boy, who came here aged 11 without a word of English, can serve at the highest levels of Her Majesty’s Government and run to be the next prime minister, anything is possible.” He added that he wants to “focus on letting children be children, protecting them from damaging and inappropriate nonsense being forced on them by radical activists”.
A suggestion, reported on Saturday, that Mr Johnson intends to stand down as Prime Minister on Monday in order to run again for Tory leader was labelled "completely untrue" by his spokesperson. Tory MP Mark Francois has said he believes at least 12 people will put their names forward.
Elections to the executive of the Conservatives' powerful backbench 1922 Committee will take place on Monday. The new body will then draw up a timetable for the leadership election.
