Tom Tugendhat apologises for Conservative Party infighting as he launches leadership campaign with just 24 HOURS until one of six candidates drops out

Tom Tugendhat today apologised to the British people for the infighting in the Conservative Party as he announced his candidacy for party leader.

The former minister said the party “owes a better result” to voters as the battle to take power from Rishi Sunak heats up.

At the event in central London, the day before MPs were due to narrow down the field of candidates, Mr Tugendhat was surrounded by Union Jacks and supporters.

Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly launched their campaigns yesterday.

Former ministers Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel are also running, although they are believed to be most at risk of exclusion.

The list of candidates will be narrowed from six to four before the party conference. The winner is to be announced in November.

Mr Tugendhat said: “I know that honesty matters, which is why I want to start with an apology.

“The Conservative Party owes you more. Politics is not a game and we all know what it costs when a government is not sober and serious.”

Reflecting on the end of the previous government, he added: “I have seen duty give way to ego. That is why I stand before you today, because this country can change, we must change and Britain deserves better.”

In his speech, Mr Tugendhat stressed that only under his leadership could the Conservatives regain the public’s trust after the “recent games” at Westminster, which had damaged the party.

The senior Conservative is expected to emphasise the importance of public service, telling the audience: “As leader, I promise to return to an honest and responsible state.

“I will present to the government a plan to regain trust and confidence in the future because I know this country has the most important ingredients for future success.”

He added: “That’s why I’m running not just to lead the Conservative Party. I’m running to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”

Candidates are being advised not to attack each other during the contest to avoid the public division that could be exposed in the 2022 leadership contest that saw Liz Truss and Mr Sunak face off.

But Mr Jenrick has faced covert criticism from rivals over his stance on the European Convention on Human Rights, which he blames for blocking efforts to clamp down on illegal immigration and deport criminal foreign nationals.

Ms Badenoch and Mr Cleverly have spoken negatively about the plans, suggesting Mr Jenrick is offering “easy answers” ​​or “clichés and quick fixes” that will not deliver results.

Mr Jenrick told reporters: “On illegal migration… if you come here illegally, you are detained, deported within days either back to Albania or to a safe third country like Rwanda, depending on what is available in the coming years.

“To do that, I have come to the conclusion that we must leave the European Convention on Human Rights. I do not think it can be reformed.”

He also claimed that a promise to introduce a binding cap on legal migration was necessary to win back votes from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

Ms Badenoch, widely seen as the bookmakers’ favourite, said during her inaugural speech that Labour was only in government because people no longer believed in the Conservatives.

She said the previous government’s mistake was that it “talked right-wing but governed left-wing, sounded like the Conservatives but acted like Labour”.