Tom Tugendhat enters the Tory leadership race

Tom Tugendhat last night became the second Tory candidate to declare in the Conservative leadership contest. Just like his former Home Office colleague James Cleverly, he chose to make his pitch in an op-ed for the Telegraph, declaring that he would be prepared to leave the European Court on Human Rights. It came just a few hours after nominations opened for the leadership race, with further candidates expected to declare over the coming days.

Tugendhat, 51, first entered parliament in 2015 and has always, perhaps unfairly, been caricatured by some as a figure of the Tory left. A Remainer, patron of the Tory Reform Group and longtime critic of Boris Johnson, his previous bid for leader in 2022 ended after he attracted 31 MPs in the third round of voting. To go further this time – and address some of those predictable criticisms – Tugendhat is making a pitch that stresses his credentials as a figure of the centre-right.