Putting the national interest first
It has been an extraordinary few months in British politics. The events of the last few weeks have been unsettling for our whole country and it became clear that Liz Truss did not have the support required to continue as Prime Minister. I have great respect for the swift decision she took to resign, despite the huge personal cost to her and her family.
Over the last 24 hours I have of course given serious consideration to whom I will be supporting in the leadership election next week.
I believe the most important thing for our country right now is a period of stability during which we can get to grips with the very difficult and serious economic circumstances that we face. Further political turmoil will lead to more instability and economic uncertainty that I just do not believe is in the national interest.
In order to achieve political and economic stability for the country, we must have a period of calm and order in Parliament. This will require Conservative MPs to unite around a Prime Minister who can be trusted to deliver a competent programme of government that puts the national interest first and inspires confidence around the country and around the world.
The last few weeks and months have shown that this stability is not possible when a leader does not enjoy the confidence of their MPs. In my mind there are two stand-out candidates for the leadership, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, both of whom are exceptionally talented politicians.
I have huge admiration for Boris and I supported him until the very end of his premiership, even after over 50 ministers had resigned and many more of my colleagues had publicly denounced him. Boris delivered Brexit and to many he symbolises the ‘realignment’ of voters that emerged first in the Brexit referendum and was then cemented in 2017 and 2019.
But with a heavy heart I have come to the conclusion that if Boris returns as Prime Minister we are very unlikely to achieve that stability in Parliament or in the country. Whilst I supported Boris and his mandate, the last few months of his government were sadly chaotic and ended with 40% of MPs voting no confidence in him just three months ago.
Sadly I do not see how Boris would be able to unite the parliamentary party with such a recent record of discontent.
I have therefore decided to declare my support for Rishi Sunak.
Rishi is one of the most gifted and able people I have ever met and an outstanding communicator. He is a serious politician who navigated the pandemic with enormous skill and designed successful support schemes that rescued millions of individuals and businesses across the country from financial ruin.
Of course there is no guarantee that he would unite Conservative MPs but my sense is that he is much more likely to do this than any of the other candidates.
I know many of my constituents are fond of Boris (as am I) and would love to see him return to Number 10. I understand that and still believe that the way he was ejected from office was undemocratic. But we cannot go back in time and the most important thing right now is to restore the reputation of our economy and our Party with competent and stable government, and I have come to the conclusion that Rishi is the most likely to deliver that.
But whoever wins amongst MPs and amongst Party members will have my full support.
