I am glad that Boris Johnson eventually agreed to resign as Prime Minister, following the clear wishes of Ministers and many backbenchers. He has many achievements to his credit, but in the end the repeated scandals meant that he had to go to start the process of restoring confidence in the Government and the way we conduct Government in this country.
In the leadership election which will now take place I am supporting Tom Tugendhat. I think Tom offers a clean break with the immediate past problems, and gives the Conservative Party the change to regain the public’s trust. In his past career in the army he showed his leadership qualities, and I believe he offers a fresh start for the Party and, more importantly, the country. We need to rediscover our ethos of public service and make government work for the people again. We need to take serious steps to protect the UK at home and rebuild a competitive low-tax high-growth economy. I think Tom can do that.