Constituents have asked me how I have voted during the Parliamentary stage for Leader of the Conservative Party. I voted for Rishi Sunak.
Rishi supported Brexit before the 2016 referendum. Only a quarter of MPs at the time, including Rishi and I, did so. I trust his instincts on the important challenge of securing our long-term success outside the European Union.
Rishi handled the Treasury with extraordinary competence through Covid securing records amount of government funds to support the NHS, introducing the furlough and other support schemes that were lifelines for millions of people.
All of the candidates at the Parliamentary stage towered above the Labour Leader, but Rishi has the edge in our efforts to win the next General Election.
The Parliamentary stage is behind us and we are now on to the stage where Conservative members will select between the two final, excellent candidates: Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. As we begin this stage, I would like to make some points.
Firstly, to reiterate, I remain strongly in support of the sitting Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. He has a clear mandate to continue to deliver, a record of having delivered on his mandate and a plan for finishing the job. Nevertheless, that is behind us now and we must deal with the world as it is.
Secondly, we have had the most excellent selection of candidates during the Parliamentary stage: a level of skills, policies and personalities that no other political party can match. In the final stages, we had the diversity of candidates that the Labour Party endlessly talks about but never delivers: Labour always choose the white guy from North London.
And remember this. Kemi, Suella, Jeremy, Nadhim, Tom, Penny, Liz and Rishi were all selected as Conservative Party candidates by Party members in their constituencies. Conservative Party members focus on potential and will do so again in this leadership election.
This is the first time that we have had a closely contested leadership election whilst in office. We have a reasonable length of time to make a decision: about the same as for a General Election. It is an opportunity to test the two candidates for the duration. Personally, I think it is wise for members to wait until the latter stages of this campaign period before deciding their vote. Working with Liz and Rishi each day, Conservative MPs have had a chance to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. This is the opportunity for members to do likewise.
We are choosing someone who is ready to lead the country. Someone who will have to deal imminently with the further energy price hikes due in October, union strikes over pay and a complex international situation.
And we are choosing someone who can give us the best chance of beating Labour at the next election.
Conservative Party members are tasked with a serious responsibility. I know they will take their time, listen to each candidate fairly, test all policy ideas for soundness and then ultimately make their decision.
