British Indian former home secretary Priti Patel launched her bid to become the Leader of the Conservative Party and take over from Rishi Sunak as UK Opposition Leader over the weekend.
Centring her pitch around uniting the fractured Party, she argues that her over 30 years of experience with the Tories – both government and Opposition – means she has the experience and strength needed to get the party match fit and win after its bruising defeat in the July 4 General Election. Having worked for William Hague after the party’s historic defeat in 1997, the Gujarati heritage member of Parliament from Witham, Essex, argues that she has experienced Opposition and can demonstrate the resolve and determination to get the Conservatives back into government.
She said: “It isn’t our heroic members who failed, but politicians’ distraction from public service.
“We must now turn our conservative values into strong policies to bring about positive change for people across our country. It is time to put unity before personal vendetta, country before party, and delivery before self-interest.
“I have done this throughout my 30 plus years of service to our party, in both government and Opposition. I can get us match fit to win the next General Election.”
Patel joins the race with fellow former Tory Cabinet ministers – James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride and Robert Jenrick – as the first female to enter the heated contest which will run until November 2.The second female to file her nomination within the July 29 deadline is Kemi Badenoch, serving as shadow housing secretary on the Opposition benches.
Blaming politicians who “fell out and left us short”, former Indian Diaspora champion Priti Patel argues that conservatism hasn’t failed because instinctively conservative values like “defending freedom, promoting enterprise, keeping people safe and spreading opportunity” remain popular.
Drawing a contrast with other leadership candidates, the former home secretary has said would reward members’ loyalty and dedication by giving them a greater voice in policy, on the party board and helping to democratically elect the party chairman.
The nominations for Tory leadership will close on July 29 after which the final list of candidates will be drawn up to begin campaigning, including a direct pitch to the party at the Conservative conference in September. The final two candidates will go up for an online vote of the party membership over the course of October with Sunak’s successor in place by early November.
