Sajid Javid has warned fellow Tories of 1997-style “oblivion” unless they change course as he launched his leadership campaign, saying: “Voters have lost faith in us.”
The former health secretary cast himself as the most experienced candidate in the race – having held two of the three big offices of state – and the only one with a detailed economic plan for recovery.
Urging the party to pick a leader with “integrity”, Mr Javid pointed to the 1997 landslide defeat and said: “I fear that party was on a trajectory to the same electoral oblivion.
“This is a wake up and smell the coffee moment,” he said, adding: “Sleaze, scandal, internal warfare. We’ve seen this movie before, we know how it ends.”
But Mr Javid faced difficult questions over his past tax-avoiding non-dom status – refusing to explain three times why he held the status and whether it was in a tax haven.
He argued that, as an international banker, he had an “international job and travelled a lot”, claiming he had been “transparent” about his tax affairs, despite the unanswered questions.
Mr Javid also attacked the almost-vicious nature of the early campaign, with its “poisonous gossip" and “attack memos”, saying: “This isn’t House of Cards or Game of Thrones.”
And, asked about staying in Mr Johnson’s cabinet for so long, he replied: “Perhaps I should have left earlier. But I didn’t see anyone else leave any earlier than me,” In fact, the party chair Oliver Dowden quit before him.
He appeared to acknowledge his lack of charisma, a frequent criticism, saying: “No one is the full package. I know I’m not.”
But he pointed to the return of a strong team of people, adding: “If we can get back to seeing this job as the first among equals, we can transition from a team of rivals to an unrivalled team.”
Mr Javid was also questioned over his U-turn in arguing for the National Insurance hike to fund better health and social care – only to call for it to be scrapped, now he is running for leader.
He said the decision was “right and fair” when it was announced, but said: “The circumstances have changed. When the circumstances change in terms of amount of money coming into treasury it is right to respond.”
On his tax affairs, Mr Javid said: “I lived in the [United] States, I lived in the UK, I lived in Singapore, I was tax resident in different countries, as part of my job. It had an impact on my statuses. That’s not unusual.
“I had a tax adviser, accountants that would help me with my international taxes, I moved around a lot.
“And the test for me was to make sure that, whatever you do, when it comes to your taxes, your personal tax affairs, that is always correct, proper, within all the rules, and that was met at all times.
“So I am perfectly happy about that. And I am certain that I’ve never had an issue with HMRC. I’ve never had a tax investigation. I’ve always been transparent, fully transparent, with the tax authorities.”
