Priti Patel enters Tory Leadership Race

Former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel has thrown her name in the race for the Tory party leadership.

Entering the increasingly crowded field to replace Rishi Sunak, Dame Priti blamed the party’s worst-ever defeat on politicians who “fell out and left us short”.

Dame Priti is the fifth candidate to join the race, with Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick already having declared.

Announcing her decision on X, Dame Priti wrote:

“I am standing to be the new leader of the Conservative Party.

“I can lead us in opposition and unite our party and get us match fit for the next election, with unity, experience and strength.”

After the turmoil that dogged the Conservative Party in government, Dame Priti Patel stressed she had the experience and resilience to unite the party.

While arguing the Conservatives should reflect on what went wrong at the polls that saw the party reduced to just 121 MPs at Westminster, Dame Priti argued the party cannot let “a soap opera of finger-pointing and self-indulgence” distract from the goal of winning the next election.

She insisted “authentic” conservative values such as defending freedom, promoting enterprise, keeping people safe and spreading opportunity remained popular with the public.

And it was “competent, grown-up and experienced politicians” who put these into practice that would help the Conservatives regain power.

Dame Priti stated that under her leadership, members would be rewarded for their loyalty with a greater voice in policy and the direction of the party, including helping to elect the Tory chairman, who is currently appointed by the leader.

She said: “It isn’t our heroic members who failed, but politicians’ distraction from public service.

“We must now turn our conservative values into strong policies to bring about positive change for people across our country.

“It is time to put unity before personal vendetta, country before party, and delivery before self-interest.”

“I have done this throughout my 30-plus years of service to our party, in both government and opposition. I can get us match fit to win the next general election.”

The Tories will narrow the field down to four.

That shortlist will make their case at the Conservative Party conference, which runs from September 29 to October 2.

The final two will then go to a vote of party members in an online ballot that will close on October 31, with the result announced on November 2.