I wanted to share my thoughts on the recent announcement of the resignation of the Prime Minister and the ongoing leadership race. As you would expect, I have received a large amount of correspondence in recent weeks and months expressing a wide range of opinions on these events and those that led up to it. Since then, the Prime Minister has announced he will depart from Downing Street on the 5th September 2022. With that, there is little more I can usefully add and I do not propose to cover old ground I have repeatedly commented upon both publicly and in correspondence with my constituents. Suffice to say, the issue of gatherings in Downing Street was highly regrettable and should never have happened and the Prime Minister was right to consistently apologise unreservedly.
That said, as local people will know, I strongly supported his candidacy for the leadership back in 2019 and I do not regret that decision for a moment. I have also served in his Government from the moment he assumed office and I have supported him throughout. He has achieved so much, some of which he has had little credit for, particularly around delivering Brexit - a seismic achievement of itself. I did not resign when others did in recent weeks, and I am proud of what we have achieved during his premiership on so many fronts. Indeed, I do believe that his departure, and the circumstances of it, will be a source of regret for my party in the years to come. But we are where we are.
In respect of the leadership race which is now well underway, I have been receiving an equally large volume of correspondence expressing a whole range of views about the selection of excellent candidates who put themselves forward, who all showed their individual merits during the parliamentary party stage and expressed interesting ideas about the best way forward. As you would expect, I took into consideration the views expressed when reaching my own conclusions about how to cast my vote.
For me, Liz Truss is best placed to continue delivering on the key priorities we were elected on in 2019, and which matter to people here in Corby & East Northamptonshire, but with a fresh perspective - and I am therefore delighted that she is in the final two for Conservative Party members to vote between around the country. She has a proven track-record in Government, consistently holding very high office, with wide-ranging experience, and for me, that matters. Liz's vision includes a radical and innovative plan for a strong economy, and to help alleviate the cost of living pressures, an ongoing commitment to controlling our borders, and continuing to put more police officers out on the beat, catching criminals and deterring crime, amongst many others. We need conviction, vision and dynamism - and I genuinely believe Liz brings that to this race.
In fact, you can read a detailed article I co-wrote with two of my colleagues, Edward Argar MP and James Heappey MP, setting out why we are backing Liz, which you can find, here.
Thereafter, whoever wins will have my backing and support - we need to get back to concentrating on the day job and continue to deliver for the British people on their priorities. That is precisely what we will do. We shall see what the 5th September brings!