Priti Patel has entered the race to be Tory leader, saying her party should put ‘unity before personal vendetta’.
Standing on a platform of ‘unite to win’, the former Home Secretary urged colleagues not to descend into ‘a soap opera of finger-pointing and self-indulgence’ in the wake of the landslide General Election defeat.
Sources close to Dame Priti said her remarks were not aimed at any potential rivals, including Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman, who had a war of words this month.
But Dame Priti, who served in Boris Johnson‘s Cabinet but not under either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, also made clear that she believed it wasn’t Conservative values that led to election defeat, instead politicians who ‘fell out and left us short’.
She becomes the fifth MP to throw their hat in the ring, after James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick and Mel Stride. Mrs Badenoch is expected to declare her candidature before tomorrow’s deadline.
Priti Patel has entered the race to be Tory leader, saying her party should put ‘unity before personal vendetta’
More to follow.