Transport secretary Grant Shapps launches Tory leadership bid
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has launched his bid for the Tory leadership.
“It is easy to criticise Boris after keeping one’s head down for years while being happy to benefit from his patronage,” he told the Sunday Times. “I am glad that I did not do that.
“I have not spent the last few turbulent years plotting or briefing against the Prime Minister. I have not been mobilising a leadership campaign behind his back.”
The secretary told the outlet his objective was addressing the cost-of-living crisis and rebuild the country’s economy to become Europe’s biggest budget by 2050.
Ruling out a general election, he said that – if elected Tory leader and therefore prime minister – he would produce an emergency budget in the first 100 days in office.
Shapps also explained that while supporting the levelling-up agenda, he would reduce state presence in other areas, going back to an old-school approach to conservatism.
“We should, where possible, get out of the way.” he said. “We should trust people and allow them to spend their money as they wish.
“We must map a clear path to lower taxes, not just expressing good intentions.”
Shapps’s is the second big name that was thrown in the Tory leadership race, after former Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his bid yesterday.
Shapps’s announcement comes on the same day defence secretary Ben Wallace pulled out of the competition, saying he would continue focusing on his job at the Ministry of Defence.