Conservative MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond has confirmed he is backing Rishi Sunak to be the next leader of the party and replace Liz Truss as prime minister.
In an interview with Riverside Radio’s news editor Stephen Menon today, Hammond explained his options were likely limited to Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson following Truss’ resignation yesterday.
In the last election, Hammond ran the Tom Tugendhat campaign, but after Tugendhat – who is confirmed not to be running – pulled out, he voted for Sunak.
Hammond said: “I voted for Rishi Sunak last time, and I see no reason to change my view on that at the moment.
“Boris Johnson has many talents. He’s a great communicator, a great campaigner, has charisma, and he was absolutely unequivocal in his support for Ukraine and actually when we go through the analysis of Covid, I think you’ll find that we have done pretty much the same as other international nations.
“But if you want to govern, you have to be held by a high standard of integrity.
“The reasons why I was fairly outspoken in my criticism of Boris in his last year as prime minister is that I don’t think we were meeting those standards and therefore it is a surprise to me that some of my colleagues, who even were of a very clear view back in May and June, are now calling for his return.”
Hammond explained that what the Conservative Party needs to do, in order to regain public trust, is to show its economic competence, as he warns that this is the party’s two year chance to prove that they will govern in the interests of the country.
Hammond specifies that this means reverting back to the party’s economic policy.
He said: “Don’t borrow just to buy things now, borrow to invest in the future.”
Featured image credit: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
