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Mark Spencer, the leader of the Commons, and another ex-foot in no Conservative, also supports Rishi Sunak.
Mark Spencer:
Rishi is the leader who can unite the Party, unite the whole country and win us the fifth victory of the general election. In severe times we need a person with a proven track record. Rishi gets my full support.
– Mark Spencer (@Mark_Spencer) July 8, 2022
Rishi Sunak has some Conservative MPs already declaring their support.
This is from Mark Harper, the former whip in head.
And that’s from Jacob Young. He is a deputy for Redcar and Cleveland.
Lord Greenhalgh has resigned as Minister of Building Security. In his resignation letter, he says he has been saddened by the events that led Boris Johnson to decide, and that he has decided it is also time to go. Greenhalgh worked with Johnson in City Hall when Johnson was mayor. He was deputy mayor of police.
Rishi Sunak launches his campaign for conservative leadership
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, has launched his campaign for conservative leadership with an elegant video. In it he stresses his immigration heritage, declares that “for me family is everything” and insists that he will not be a candidate who offers “comforting fairy tales”.
It hasn’t been a good week for the Daily Mail. First, Boris Johnson announced his resignation, despite the newspaper aggressively denouncing those trying to oust him. And today, at lunchtime, Durham police said Keir Starmer “had no case to answer,” although the Mail published numerous stories earlier this year that presented this as a scandal for the rival Partygate.
But they don’t easily surrender to the Mail (unlike the PM). The Mail website leads with a version of the story that headlines: “Another combination of the establishment”: the fury of the Tories, as Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are wiped out for breaking the blocking rules during the “Beergate” meeting.
The headline is based on this quote from Michael Fabricant, Johnson’s loyal Conservative MP. He said:
I am amazed how Durham police decided not to fine Starmer and Rayner.
Many people will think that, as a QC and lawyer, Starmer got out of a conviction while, in effect, blackmailing Durham police by saying, “You will defeat the opposition leader if you fine me.”
Many regular people will feel that this is something else of the Establishment.
Updated at 16.37 BST
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, is about to declare himself a candidate for the Conservative leadership, reports Steven Swinford of the Times. He says Sunak will present himself as the serious candidate for serious times, with fiscal responsibility at the center of his argument (which makes him sound like a conservative version of Gordon Brown).
Break:
He said Rishi Sunak is about to formally declare his candidacy for the Conservative leadership contest
He will present himself as the serious candidate for the serious moments
Fiscal responsibility will be at the heart of your argument for leadership
– Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) July 8, 2022
Updated at 16.37 BST
Seven new ministers appointed
Downing Street has announced seven more ministerial appointments.
One of the appointments involves a minister, Stuart Andrew, who resigned Wednesday as housing minister in protest of Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister. After a day out of government, Andrew returns to government as Minister of Justice.
Two government whips have been promoted to ministers.
Alan Mak is now Secretary of the Treasury. It was a whip.
And Sarah Dines is now joint minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior.
And four defenders have been hired.
Richard Fuller is now Treasury Secretary of the Treasury.
Rehman Chishti is Foreign Minister.
Lia Nici is now a level minister.
And Brendan Clarke-Smith is now Minister of Education.
Updated at 16.36 BST
Starmer says Beergate’s promise of resignation shows how he can restore faith in politics
In his opening statement at the press conference, Keir Starmer sought to link his promise to resign in the event of being fined by Beergate with a broader argument about restoring faith in politics. Here is the key passage.
Our country is caught in danger.
Wherever you look things are broken.
And nothing is fixed.
People tell me that when you look at those who rule the country, you see a group of people totally detached from reality, whose words mean nothing, and who put their own interest first.
Who could blame them for concluding that politics doesn’t matter and doesn’t work.
It’s not just Boris Johnson.
This feeling that politics has failed has not arisen in recent months.
It has been running out for years.
And people have completely lost faith that this can be changed.
That politics can be a force for good.
The reason I made the promise I made was to change my mind.
Because when politics is done right, when people can have faith that politicians ’words mean something.
When government power is in the hands of those determined to serve the country.
Like when Labor created the NHS.
When we introduced the Equal Pay Act.
And when we gathered people to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.
Politics can change lives.
And that is what I will do as Prime Minister.
As an exercise in logic, this has not quite worked. Starmer’s promise to resign if fined proved he was serious in thinking that politicians should not be above the law. But, ironically, he could only have taken advantage of the promise to prove without a doubt that he was a politician who kept his word if he had been fined and fired (although that is what people believe he would have done).
But this is not the same as proving that politics can be a force for good. There are politicians of impeccable integrity who have failed to make policies that change lives for the better. And in the past some policies that have done just that have been implemented by scoundrels.
However, the Beergate affair has enhanced Starmer’s reputation for personal integrity, and he said so in the final passage of his speech.
I won’t get it all right.
I am certainly not perfect, and I will make mistakes along the way.
But what you will always receive from me is someone who believes that honesty and integrity are important.
Someone who will work every day for the good of the country.
And someone who will not betray the faith you place in me.
Keir Starmer speaking at his press conference. Photography: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Updated at 15.21 BST
Starmer rules out the post-election coalition with SNP, but not with Lib Dems
Q: Will you rule out the coalition with the SNP and the Lib Dems?
Yes, says Starmer.
He says he rules out an alliance with the SNP, before or after an election. This is a decision in principle. He says he cannot ally with a party that wants to break the UK.
As for the Lib Dems, Starmer says he wants a Labor government.
But he does not rule out a post-election pact.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
UPDATE: Here is Starmer’s full answer. He was asked to rule out a coalition with the SNP and the Lib Dems after the election. In response, he said:
I will absolutely rule it out.
Let me take the SNP first: there will be no agreement for a general election or any agreement that comes out of a general election …
I want to be Prime Minister for the whole UK, I want the Labor government for the whole UK.
There is no basis, no basis for an alliance with a party that wants to break the UK.
I want to grow the economy. There is no basis for an alliance with a party that thinks the answer to growing the economy is to put a border between England and Scotland.
So it’s not just a numbers game, it’s a position in principle. There is no basis for an alliance under a Keir Starmer government between Labor and the SNP. Point.
As for the Lib Dems, we want a Labor majority. We want to fulfill our mission and that is what we will do. We fight for a majority Labor government to fulfill our mission.
Keir Starmer. Photography: Kirsty O’Connor / PA
Updated at 15.06 BST
Q: Didn’t you leave late to expose what a Labor government would do?
Starmer says Labor has set out its focus on the economy, how it will manage its relationship with companies, its skills agenda and its plans for a British purchasing approach. So the party has proposed a lot, he says.
Q: Has any Conservative MP offered to support him in a censure vote?
Starmer says it’s the duty of Conservative MPs to take a step back and force Johnson out. If they do not, Labor will file a motion of censure.
Updated at 14.23 BST
Q: Do you want the government to suspend new policies for two months?
Starmer says his favorite option is for Boris Johnson to go. If it does not, Labor will propose a vote of censure.
Updated at 14.23 BST
Q: Aren’t you playing politics with the censorship vote?
Starmer says Johnson was downcast by the issue of trust and integrity. He says it makes no sense for ministers to overthrow a prime minister, saying he asks them to defend the indefensible, and then serve him for two more months.
Updated at 14.22 BST
Starmer says voters are returning to Labor. The party is ready for a general election.