Sajid Javid
(Picture: PA Wire)Sajid Javid will on Monday launch his bid to become prime minister with a pledge to banish sleaze and scandal from the Tory party and slash taxes.
The former health secretary was expected to lay out his economic plan for the country and tell Conservative members that the new leader must be the “turning point” the party needs.
Mr Javid sparked a wave of government resignations last week when he stepped down.
At his launch he was due to say: “My advice, my plea is this: the public are watching how we conduct ourselves at this time of crisis — at home and abroad.
“And they need to see that we’re focusing on the issues that matter.”
He will add: “This is a ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ moment. It won’t be enough to just have someone else, anyone else, at the helm.
“Sleaze. Scandal. Internal warfare. We’ve seen this story before, and we know exactly how it ends.
“I have every faith that it can and will be the turning point we need.”
He is also expected to announce plans for tax cuts if he is elected leader.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak had the highest number of endorsements on Monday morning, with 34 MPs backing him to be leader.
Penny Mordaunt was in second place with 21 MPs behind her.
The Portsmouth North MP today vowed that investment in “education, training and opportunity will drive my government”.
Tom Tugendhat, who has secured 15 endorsements, vowed to “lower taxes across every aspect of society”.
Kemi Badenoch made waves when Michael Gove announced he would be backing her for leadership.
The former equalities minister has also pledged lower taxes, an ironclad commitment to Brexit and “strong but limited government focused on the essentials”.
