Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is running to be the next Tory leader on a pledge to reverse the controversial national insurance hike pushed through by rival Rishi Sunak.
The senior Cabinet minister, who is widely expected to be a front-runner in the already crowded race, promised to “start cutting taxes from day one” to help with the cost of living.
With newly appointed Foreign Office minister Rehman Chishti also declaring his candidacy on Sunday evening, there are now 11 Tories in the running for the top job.
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The winner of the Tory contest will also become Prime Minister.
Other contenders include former health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak, his successor Nadhim Zahawi, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and trade minister Penny Mordaunt.
Former minister Kemi Badenoch and senior backbencher Tom Tugendhat have also thrown their hats into the ring.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is likely to announce her candidacy today.
Truss’ pledge to scrap the national insurance rise, which came into effect in April, mirrors that of rival Javid.
Both are are attempting to open up a dividing line with Sunak, who as Chancellor signed off the policy.
The levy was introduced to raise funds for the NHS and social care, but has proved controversial at a time when households are feeling the squeeze from soaring food and energy bills.
Truss, who attended primary school in Paisley, argued “it isn’t right to be putting up taxes now”, and as leader she would take “immediate action” to assist with living costs.
She said she would “keep corporation tax competitive” – hinting that she wants to look again at Sunak’s plans to hike the rate in April 2023, but did not go so far as to match some of her fellow contenders’ pledges to scrap the rise entirely.
The Foreign Secretary said she would “get the private sector growing faster than the public sector, with a long-term plan to bring down the size of the state and the tax burden”.
Writing in The Telegraph, she said: “Under my leadership, I would start cutting taxes from day one to take immediate action to help people deal with the cost of living.
“I would reverse the national insurance increase that came in during April, make sure we keep corporation tax competitive so we can attract business and investment into Britain, and put the Covid debt on a longer-term footing.”
Truss said the Tories can win the next election, but acknowledged it will be “an uphill battle”.
A timetable for the contest is expected to be drawn up in the coming week, following the election to the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee.
MPs will whittle down the candidates to two people, with Tory members having the final say.
Candidates populated the Sunday morning broadcast round, with Hunt, Javid, Shapps and Tugendhat all making appearances to promote their campaigns.
Javid said his tax-cutting plans would cost around £39 billion per year, but this did not include slashing fuel duty further in the short-term.
Later, he revealed this latter reduction would be worth £2.5 billion.
As the race for leader heats up, more Tories have declared their allegiances.
Former Cabinet minister Michael Gove – who was dramatically sacked by Johnson earlier this week – pledged his support for Badenoch on Sunday evening.
Writing in The Sun, he said: “Kemi doesn’t just win the argument, she delivers – on getting the Whitehall machine to embark on new policies and on levelling up Britain.
“Now she has the opportunity to use her first class brain to fix the big problems facing our country.”
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