Inside the 1922 hustings for Tory leader

This evening Tory MPs filed into parliament’s Committee Room 14 to hear from the six hopefuls aspiring to lead their party. Each candidate had up to ten minutes to make a final pitch to colleagues, followed by questions. Robert Jenrick went first, followed by Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride, Priti Patel and, finally, James Cleverly.

Jenrick has spent the summer campaigning heavily on migration and the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights), so opted to focus much of his speech about the economy and public services: ‘Making the NHS work for our constituents’ was a theme in his remarks. Three of the four questions he faced came from his declared backers (Jack Rankin, John Hayes and Andrew Rosindell). Some in the room read this as a sign of weakness; others supporting him suggest that few MPs were actually willing to raise queries face-to-face. Rankin asked about young people, Hayes focused on the ECHR and Rosindell raised foreign policy: all three directed their questions to the bulk of tonight’s speakers.