Rishi Sunak launches bid to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader – live | Politics

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In an interview recorded last week and broadcast today on Times Radio, Nadine Dorries ruled out a leadership bid, contrary to reports.

When asked “Nadine Dorries as prime minister”, she replied: “You know what, I will absolutely no, that’s absolutely no. Amazed you’d ask me that.”

Updated at 19.23 BSTE

Sinn Féin’s Stormont leader, Michelle O’Neill, has asked the newly appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Shailesh Vara, to “act in good faith” in relation to Northern Ireland and attempts to restore the power-sharing executive.

“Shailesh Vara is the seventh secretary of state that we’ve had in the last decade,” she told RTÉ Radio.

“I think that in itself shows the consistency and the commitment that the British government have towards Ireland, towards our peace process, and towards political relations in the North.

“My efforts and attention was that any new secretary of state – however short-lived his tenure may be – will be to make that deliberate, clear message to them that they needed to act in good faith, which has not been a characteristic of previous secretaries of state, or indeed Boris Johnson or his team.

“So I’m actually less concerned about people’s personalities and more concerned about actually what they do in their day job.”

Updated at 19.13 BSTE

Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland would remain in the British-Irish Council if the country voted for independence.

The first minister was speaking after the 37th summit held in Guernsey when she claimed a vote for independence would not come at the sacrifice of good relations with other nations in the British Isles.

“An independent Scotland would still be part of the British Isles and therefore, very much a part of the British-Irish Council,” she said.

“I want to use this forum as a way to illustrate the continuing relationships that will be strong and valued and valuable when Scotland becomes an independent country.

“The only thing that will change is Scotland will no longer be a devolved government around the table, we will be an independent government.”

Labor MP Chris Bryant on the appointment of Peter Bone:

Peter Bone is a minister. There’s no depths satire can’t reach

— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) July 8, 2022

No 10 has announced further government appointments.

Heather Wheeler is now secretary at the Cabinet Office.

Guy Opperman has been made parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Julie Marson has been appointed under-secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions, and an assistant government whip.

Updated at 18.16 BSTE

An Opinium poll for Channel 4 News shows Rishi Sunak is the most popular choice to be the next leader among Conservative party members.

The poll puts Sunak on 25%, just ahead of the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, on 21%, with the defense secretary, Ben Wallace, at 12%.

Updated at 18.05 BSTE

Some reaction to Peter Bone being named deputy leader.

There hasn’t been a deputy leader of the Commons for the whole of Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister. He is literally doing this for a laugh. https://t.co/IyKe29T7a3

— Patrick Maguire (@patrickkmaguire) July 8, 2022 Peter Bone named as deputy leader of House of Commons

The Queen has been pleased to approve the following appointments:

Andrew Griffith MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for International Trade; Jane Hunt MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; Karl McCartney MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport; James Morris MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Health and Social Care; Andrea Jenkyns MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education; Simon Baynes MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State jointly at the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office; Steve Double MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Amanda Solloway MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office, and a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Peter Bone MP to be Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. Richard Partington

Boris Johnson entered Downing Street in July 2019 with a promise. The doubters, doomsters and gloomsters were going to get it wrong again: his leadership would make Brexit a success, reigning an economy stalled by the divisions over Europe.

Three years later, almost to the day, he prepares to leave with the country reeling from a political implosion of his own making, and an economy teetering on the brink of recession.

The cost of living is accelerating at the fastest annual rate in four decades, while families face the worst hit to real disposable income on record.

This wasn’t in the boosterish script. To be fair, neither was the biggest global health emergency in a century and war on European soil.

Updated at 17.36 BSTE

Rishi Sunak’s launch video – snap verdictAndrew Sparrow

Rishi Sunak’s launch video is slick and extremely professional. (It is also not the sort of thing that has been knocked together in a rush, since Sunak resigned on Tuesday night.) The former chancellor has spent a lot of time in the US, where the political consultancy industry is much more advanced than in the UK, and the video has all the hallmarks of a top-notch production based on the best advice money can by.

The technical quality is very good. It starts with Sunak telling a story, and it is a tale of his immigrant family background, and hard work, success and family. “Family is everying to me, and my family gave my opportunities they could only dream of,” he says, in a formula that frames his privileged upbringing (he went to Winchester, one of the most elite private in the country) in the country context of upward mobility. From there it is on to love of country and the values ​​that Sunak says are “non-negotiable” for him – “patriotism, fairness and hard work”. It ends with Sunak saying “we’ve had enough of division”, and talking about how he wants to bring people together because “that’s the only way to succeed”. You could run an ad like this for almost any centrist candidate in a western democracy and it would probably work. These are messages with a wide appeal.

There is no policy in the video, and little that is specific. But, unsurprisingly, Sunak does focus on his record as chancellor, saying he “ran the toughest department in government during the toughest times when we faced the nightmare of Covid.” It is hard to dispute this, and this will be at the heart of the campaign.

More intriguingly, Sunak also hints at the approach he will take to spending arguments in the contest.

The decisions we make today will decide whether the next generation of British people will also have the chance of a better future.

Do we confront this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination? Or do we tell ourselves comforting fairy tales that might make us feel better in the moment, but will leave our children worse off tomorrow? Someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions.

Although “comforting fairly tale” might be seen by some as a good description of Brexit (which Sunak supported), he is talking here about government debt, his belief that too much borrowing is irresponsible, that tax cuts have to be paid for, and that some of this Tory colleague are wrong to believe that tax cuts will pay for themselves (a point he made explicitly in his Mais lecture).

One curious feature of the video is that it is addressed to the public at large. But the public at large will not get a vote on who becomes the next Tory leader. It is a decision for Conservative MPs, and 100,000 or so party members.

That is all from me for today. My colleague Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.

Rishi Sunak Photograph: Rishi Sunak

Updated at 17.39 BSTE

Mark Spencer, the leader of the Commons, and another Tory former chief whip, is also backing Rishi Sunak.

Mark Spencer:

Rishi is the leader that can unite the Party, bring the whole country together and win us that fifth general election victory. In serious times we need a person with a proven track record. Rishi gets my full support.

— Mark Spencer (@Mark_Spencer) July 8, 2022

Rishi Sunak has got some Tory MPs already declaring their support.

This is from Mark Harper, the former chief whip.

And this is from Jacob Young. He is MP for Redcar and Cleveland.

Lord Greenhalgh has resigned as building safety minister. In his resignation letter, he says he was saddened by the events that led to Boris Johnson deciding to quit, and that he has decided it is time to go too. Greenhalgh worked with Johnson at City Hall, when Johnson was mayor. He was deputy mayor for policing.

Rishi Sunak launches his campaign for Tory leadership

Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, has launched his campaign for the Tory leadership with a slick video. In it he stresses his immigrant heritage, declares that “family is everything to me” and insists that he will not be a candidate offering “comforting fairy tales”.

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