Politics latest: Conservative leadership race hots up as James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch launch campaigns to succeed Rishi Sunak and take fight to Keir Starmer as MPs return to Parliament after summer recess

This is the moment a journalist quipped James Cleverly was ‘not the best at comebacks’ after the shadow home secretary interjected during his question at the Tory leadership contender’s campaign launch.

Watch the exchange below:

We’ve just finished the second Conservative campaign launch of the day as James Cleverly formally declared his bid to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.

He entered the stage in London just minutes after his rival Kemi Badenoch wrapped up at her own event as the two Tories compete alongside Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat to succeed Rishi Sunak.

Here are five key takeaways following Mr Cleverly’s speech:

• James Cleverly said he would resurrect the Rwanda partnership to help bring down numbers of migration by introducing a deterrent against coming to the UK illegally.
• The shadow home secretary said he would also abolish stamp duty to help younger people climb onto the property ladder and rejected suggestions it would be expensive.
• Mr Cleverly insisted he was the most experienced leader and best communicator to lead the Conservatives into the next election, adding he was happy to be judged on his record of delivery
• He said he wanted to make the Tories the party of business again by cutting red tape and barriers for companies wanting to expand, describng the current situation as a crisis of capitalism
• Talking about the previous Conservative government, Mr Cleverly insisted ‘we accomplished a lot’ but insisted the party spent too much time ‘talking tough and not taking action’

Mr Cleverly has now ended his campaign launch after taking a question on how the Conservatives can win back seats in London.

He said the party needed to be ‘relentlessly positive’ with a pro-growth agenda and a credible offering for young people.

Mr Cleverly suggested a journalist had his ‘maths back to front’ as he rejected a suggestion his plan to abolish stamp duty would be expensive.

The former home secretary said imposing taxes was expensive not removing them.

Mr Cleverly insists Labour would not have been so quick to disband the Rwanda scheme if the UK had a partnership with a European country to deport migrants.

He said African nations with growing economies would have taken note of what he describes as Labour’s ‘arrogance’ towards the country and adds he doesn’t know how long it would take to repair the relationship.

He repeats he would look to set up a new agreement if he becomes leader.

We can now bring you clips of James Cleverly speaking at his campaign launch as he bids to become the next Conservative leader.

Mr Cleverly said he intends to attract younger voters to the Conservatives by changing the tone so they are no longer the ‘grumpy party’.

The shadow home secretary said he wanted to shift the policy and tone of the party so it would provide optimism for younger people.

He said his plan to abolish stamp duty was an example of a measure designed to help.

Mr Cleverly has insisted he is happy to be judged on his record in Government as he insists he is the most experienced candidate and the best at communicating the Conservative message.

Responding to a question from Beth Rigby, he insisted actions he took in the Home Office was having a positive impact on migration and that as party chairman he helped deliver the party’s best electoral result in 2019.

I’m very, very happy to be judged on my record of delivery.

Mr Cleverly has now spoken about the previous Conservative government’s track record as he insisted ‘we accomplished lots in government’.

Howeever, he then notes the Tories spent too much time ‘talking tough and not taking action’.

He then takes aim at the ‘declinism’ of Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage, whom he claims believe Britain’s best days are behind them, and insists he will make the country the most powerful in Europe.

Explaining why he is the best placed leader, he tells the audience: ‘I’m the most effective communicator our party has got.’

Mr Clevery said the third challenge was to restore confidence in capitalism as he pledged to ensure the Tories will be the party of business again by cutting red tape to help the economy grow.

He reiterated his pledge to abolish stamp duty which he described as a ‘bad tax’ that was stifling the housing market.

Mr Cleverly has set out the challenges he will tackle as Conservative leader, insisting he will adopt the same courage as Conservatives such as Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill and Benjamin Disraeli.

He starts by saying he will help Britain navigatge through a ‘deeply unstable world’ by increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP as he insisted the country will find strength through security.

Mr Cleverly says the second major challenge will be to tackle global migration which he said was essential in restoring credibility and winning support back from voters who switched to Reform and Liberal Democrats.

Adds he will restore the Rwanda partnership.

Mr Cleverly is now on the stage giving a speech at his campaign launch.

He starts by thanking Tory MP Shivani Raja and former cabinet colleague Grant Shapps for being a part of Team Cleverly.

The shadow home secretary says the Conservatives must be unified and disciplined to beat Labour as she tells the audience voters ‘don’t listen to divided parties’.

He then says it is inevitable people will get fed up with Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘high-taxing, crony-filled government’.

Introducing Mr Cleverly to the stage, Mr Shapps insists James Cleverly is the right leader to take on Sir Keir Starmer because he is the ‘most experienced’, ‘best communicator’ and is a ‘first-class campaigner’.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Grant Shapps, who lost his seat at the general election, is on stage to endorse James Cleverly at his campaign launch.

Mr Shapps tells the audience he has a ‘unique perspective’ on his former colleagues from doing a variety of jobs in Government.

He insists Mr Cleverly has what it takes to lead the Tories and has a ‘track record of delivery’.

Mr Cleverly’s campaign launch has now started.

Just minutes after Kemi Badenoch launched her campaign, her rival James Cleverly is about to formally kick off his bid for the leadership.

Mr Cleverly will speak on a stage bearing the words:

We will bring you updates from his campaign event.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he won’t ‘take lectures’ from the previous government following Kemi Badenoch’s comments about the Labour Party.

Asked to respond to her description of the Labour government as dishonest and misleading the public over the state of public finances, the Prime Minister told the media during a visit to an Orpington primary school:

I say I’m not going to take lectures from anyone from the previous government who left the worst possible inheritance. The country is in a real state, the economy has been badly damaged, nobody really argues in relation to that.

There’s a £22 billion black hole unaccounted for, not on the books, the OBR didn’t know about it. So, I think that what the Conservatives could do was to apologise for the mess that they made.

What we’re doing is cleaning it up. We’re going to strip it out, make sure that we rebuild the foundation so we can bring about the change that we were elected to bring about in this country.

Kemi Badenoch has formally launched her campaign to become the next Conservative leader to oppose Labour and Sir Keir Starmer.

The former business secretary was introduced on stage at the event in London by shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho.

Here’s five key takeaways from her speech:

• Kemi Badenoch insists Labour ‘will fail’ in government as she attacked Sir Keir Starmer’s administration of ‘trying to pull the wool over the eyes’ of voters on a raft of issues
• The former business secretary said she doesn’t ‘do spin’ as she claimed politicians for too long had just repeated what voters wanted to hear instead of taking tough decisions in the interest of the country.
• She said she wouldn’t advocate leaving the European Court on Human Rights as it wouldn’t solve the problem of migration, insisting there needed to be an understanding of why David Cameron’s legal cap hadn’t worked
• Ms Badenoch dismissed claims she was too focused on fighting culture wars instead of the ‘nitty gritty’ of government as she was ‘doing her job’ by picking battles with Labour over concerns on gender identity
• She insisted the Conservatives lost the election because voters no longer understood what the party stood for which is one of the reasons she put ‘renewal’ at the heart of her campaign

After taking one more question from Sky News’ Beth Rigby on what problems she believed led to the Conservative government’s defeat at the general election, Ms Badenoch said the approach was too ‘managerial’ before ending the campaign launch.

We will bring you reaction and updates from the launch with James Cleverly’s event to come later.

Answering a question from the Sun’s Political Editor Harry Cole, Ms Badenoch has rejected accusations she is too focused on fighting culture wars than the nitty gritty of government.

Ms Badenoch says anyone making the suggestion is not ‘paying attention’ as she was ‘doing her job’ as equalities minister. She then points to a recent video of her challenging Angela Rayner at the despatch box as an example of how she would take the fight to Labour.

Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservative government’s mistake was that it “talked right but governed left” as she launched her Tory leadership campaign in Westminster.

The shadow communities secretary told a packed room of journalists and supporters that ‘a government that tries to do everything will likely end up achieving nothing’.

This was one of our mistakes. We talked right but governed left, sounding like Conservatives but acting like Labour.

Government should do fewer things, but what it does, it should do with brilliance.

The Tory leadership battle gathered pace today as favourite Kemi Badenoch formally launched her bid.

Ms Badenoch laid out a small-state vision for the party, insisting that government must ‘do less but better’. She also cautioned that the Conservatives must be ready when Labour ‘fail’ and ‘run out of other people’s money’.

Playing up her combative reputation, Ms Badenoch joked that she ‘does do charm sometimes’.

Watch Kemi Badenoch’s leadership campaign launch here:

Ms Badenoch told the audience she doesn’t ‘do spin’ as she explained for too long politicians had just repeated what voters wanted to hear, adding words should no longer triumph over deeds.

Prompting laughs from the audience, she said, ‘I do charm sometimes’ but that she preferred to have ‘hard words today’ instead of failing to confront difficult issues.

Ms Badenoch has insisted the Conservatives can’t just ‘sit around and say how terrible Labour are’ as she said she wanted to focus on the future of the country instead of fighting old battles of the past

‘Labour will fail and when the country is looking for change, we must be ready’, she tells her campaign launch.

Ms Badenoch added she believes in personal responsibility and that there must be acceptance that governments cannot solve ‘all our problems’.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho introduces Kemi Badenoch to the stage at her campaign launch.

Ms Countinho said Ms Badenoch is the right leader to form a new Conservative consensus and that she tells the truth ‘even when people don’t want to hear it’.

Ms Badenoch is now speaking.

Ms Badenoch’s leadership campaign is being launched right now.

We will bring you updates as and when she speaks.

Shadow justice secretary Edward Argar and Mid Leicestershire MP Peter Bedford are backing Robert Jenrick for the leadership.

Allies of Mr Jenrick believe he is ‘nailed on’ to make the final stage of the contest, when the two most popular contenders among MPs go on to a vote of the Tory membership.

There are 121 Tory MPs and sources in his campaign said they will get the 41 votes needed to guarantee finishing in the top two.

A Jenrick campaign source said they were ‘very confident as a team that we have an absolutely nailed-on route to get 41 votes and get into the final two’ with a ‘broad coalition of support’ from MPs across the party, from centrist moderates to the Conservative right.

The endorsements come as Kemi Badenoch launches her campaign to become the next leader.

Kemi Badenoch, the former business secretary, is just minutes away from launching her campaign to become the next Conservative leader.

In her speech, Ms Badenoch will accuse Sir Keir Starmer’s administration of ‘trying to pull the wool over the eyes’ of voters on a raft of issues.

She is also expected to insist that Labour will ‘fail’ and that the public is already ‘yearning for something better’ after less than 60 days of Sir Keir in Downing Street.

The launch is being broadcast live from her X account from 11am.

The UK’s manufacturing sector has been growing at the fastest rate in more than two years – as allies urge Keir Starmer to be more positive.

Closely-watched PMI figures showed activity at the highest level in 26 months, as firms and consumers benefit from easing inflation.

The S&P Global UK index came in at 52.5 last month, up from 52.1 in July. Anything above 50 indicates growth.

The strong stats emerged despite grim messaging from the PM, who has warned of ‘pain’ looming with tax rises in the Budget next month.

Commons Leader Lucy Powell sparked derision yesterday when she argued that there would have been a run on the Pound if the government had not slashed winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

by Jason Grove and John-Paul Ford Rojas

Business confidence is collapsing under Labour, bosses warned last night.

Optimism about the economy has been ‘snuffed out’ by fears of a tax-raising Budget next month and concern about Labour’s plans for a union-friendly package of workers’ rights.

It fuels worries that downbeat statements on the economy from Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves risk becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Despite Britain recording the fastest growth in the G7, the Chancellor claimed last month that Labour had inherited ‘the worst set of circumstances since the Second World War’.

The Prime Minister said the situation was so bad that a ‘painful’ tax-raising Budget would be needed next month, adding: ‘Things will get worse before they get better.’

As the race to succeed Rishi Sunak as the Conservative Party leader hots up this week with campaign launches and the first ballot to whittle down the list of candidates, let’s take a look at the support for each candidate.

Many Conservatives said they wanted a longer leadership contest so candidates can prove how effective they will be in opposition so many MPs and grandees are yet to declare their number one choice.

But some leaders have already had endorsements from current and former colleagues so let’s take a look at the notable backers of those gunning to take on Sir Keir Starmer and a Labour government.

Courtesy of our Deputy Political Editor David Wilcock:

Conservative leadership contender has released a video ahead of his campaign speech this afternoon setting out how the party can return to power.

Mr Cleverly is expected to speak at 12.10pm and is the second Tory to launch his bid today after Kemi Badenoch.

The Tory leadership battle is gathering pace today as favourite Kemi Badenoch formally launches her bid – warning the party must ‘renew’ to claw back power.

Hopefuls are stepping up their campaigns with MPs set to whittle the field down from half a dozen to four over the next fortnight.

Alongside Ms Badenoch’s pitch, former home secretary James Cleverly will lay out his goal of abolishing stamp duty – designed to appeal to the party rank and file.

But while two will soon fall by the wayside the contest still has until November 2 to run, with complaints that the Conservatives are focused on infighting while Labour pushes through a slew of controversial policies.

Ms Badenoch will accuse Sir Keir Starmer’s administration of ‘trying to pull the wool over the eyes’ of voters on a raft of issues.

A senior Conservative and former cabinet minister has insisted Kemi Badenoch has the ‘energy and communication skills’ to take the fight to Labour at the despatch box in an early boost for her leadership launch.

Chris Philp, the shadow Commons leader, said he was picking Ms Badenoch out of ‘six really good candidates’ for the leadership.

I think she has a lot of conviction, a lot of integrity, but also a lot of courage to take on difficult issues when she needs to, to take on Keir Starmer and the Labour government as well.

They’ve made some terrible choices just in the last couple of months alone. And we need somebody with the energy and the communication skills who can take the fight to Labour.

I think Kemi can do that.

Mr Philp is one of five shadow cabinet ministers to back Ms Badenoch following endorsements from Julia Lopez, shadow culture minister, Andrew Griffith, shadow science minister, Alex Burghart, shadow Northern Ireland secretary and Laura Trott, shadow chief secretary.

Conservatives are set to try to block Labour’s plans to axe the winter fuel allowance for 10million pensioners – as the backlash over the controversial move grows.

The Tories and Liberal Democrats are pushing for a parliamentary vote this week on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plan to scale back the payments which are worth up to £300.

But a Government source said ministers would reject the call to scrutinise the measure, which has already been rushed through Parliament without a vote.

Yesterday, Ms Reeves defended the plan as the ‘right choice’, saying that savings were needed to fill a financial ‘black hole’ left by the Tories. ‘I know these are tough choices, especially on winter fuel,’ she wrote in The Observer. ‘They were not the choices I wanted to make or expected to make but they were the right choices to put our country on a firmer footing.’

Commons Leader Lucy Powell went further, claiming that Britain could have suffered a run on the pound without the measure, which is expected to save the taxpayer about £1.5billion a year.

A probe has been promised over the ‘dynamic pricing’ Oasis controversy which landed fans with tickets costing twice the price amid massive demand.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy vowed that the inflated selling of tickets for the Britpop band’s long-awaited reunion concerts would form part of a Government review of the secondary gig sales market.

Ticketmaster bosses have come under fire for their Uber-style ‘dynamic pricing’ which saw charges soar on Saturday – with music fans also turning on Oasis for raking in profits from the ticketing system.

An estimated 14million fans spent the day desperately battling to secure tickets to see brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher reunite on stage for a mammoth tour around the UK and Ireland next year.

But many were left raging after the price of standing tickets went up from £150 face value to £355 within hours.

The death of headteacher Ruth Perry made the need for Ofsted reform “absolutely clear”, Ms Phillipson said.

Her remarks come after a coroner’s inquest found the Ofsted inspection process had contributed to Ms Perry’s death.

Speaking on the morning interview round, Ms Phillipson told Sky News:

I have met on a number of occasions with Julia Waters, who is Ruth’s sister, and spoken about the family’s experience and the tragedy of Ruth’s death – and what the family has been through – which is beyond words.

What I should, however, point out is that I have been talking some time ahead of the news becoming public about Ruth’s tragic death about the need for reform of Ofsted.

I have been clear for some time that change was needed. I made the announcement of our position that we would end the one word judgments ahead of that news becoming public.

I think what Ruth’s death did do, and the campaigning work of Julia and the family, was to shine a light on the need for reform, and to make absolutely clear that we need a better system for families, for parents, and for children, but also for staff within our schools as well.

Ms Perry was headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading when she killed herself in January 2023, 54 days after Ofsted inspectors told her they planned to downgrade the school from outstanding to the lowest grade – inadequate.

Bridget Phillipson has today insisted a new report card system will provide parents with more information than one-word judgments.

Ms Phillipson told Sky News that single headline Ofsted grades will be scrapped with immediate effect.

We’re going to move towards a better system that better captures a school’s strengths, but also areas for improvement, in the form of a report card that will commence next September

But at the start of this academic year we are today making that change because I believe that parents need more information about what goes on within our schools.

The system we have got at the moment just isn’t working, it’s too high stakes and it does not have a sharp enough focus on how we drive up standards in our schools.

From today, all new school inspections will no longer brand them ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.

Instead, schools will get ratings for individual sub-categories – and from next year the grading system could be scrapped altogether.

Two out of six Conservative leadership contenders are launching their campaigns today as MPs return to Westminster after the summer recess.

Kemi Badenoch is up first this morning as she launches her bid to succeed Rishi Sunak at 11am in what is expected to be a withering attack on Labour’s first months in power.

James Cleverly will also give a speech this afternoon to lead the Conservatives into the next general election and has pledged to abolish stamp duty on all homes.

They will be competing alongside Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhadt who all secured enough nominations for the party leadership.

On Wednesday, the first MP ballot will take place to eliminate the candidate with the fewest number of votes dropping out, with a second ballot reducing the field to four candidates on September 10.

The final four candidates will then participate in what’s been described as a “beauty parade” in front of Tory members at the party’s conference at the end of this month.

The Conservative Party’s wider membership will then vote with the winner announced on November 2.

Tory leadership favourite Kemi Badenoch will today launch her campaign with a blistering attack on the ‘clueless, irresponsible and dishonest’ Labour government.

The former Business Secretary will use a speech in Westminster to accuse Sir Keir Starmer’s administration of ‘trying to pull the wool over the eyes’ of voters on a raft of issues.

She is also expected to insist that Labour will ‘fail’ and that the public is already ‘yearning for something better’ after less than 60 days of Sir Keir in Downing Street.

Former Home Secretary James Cleverly will simultaneously launch his campaign with an address centred more around policy and principles.

He will insist that only ‘Conservative solutions’ can solve the challenges facing Britain while arguing for a smaller state that does ‘fewer things very well, not everything badly.’

Labour will scrap one-word Ofsted judgments despite warnings it could harm pupils by dumbing down standards.

From today, all new school inspections will no longer brand them ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.

Instead, schools will get ratings for individual sub-categories – and from next year the grading system could be scrapped altogether.

The move has delighted teaching unions, which have campaigned for it but were snubbed by the previous Tory government. Yesterday, shadow education secretary Damian Hinds said scrapping the ‘vital’ headline inspection outcome ‘is not in the best interest of pupils or parents’.

And former Tory schools minister Nick Gibb added: ‘If the Ofsted judgments are not crystal clear, the danger is they cease to be something parents look at when choosing a school. You run the risk of overall standards declining.’

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as MPs return to Westminster after summer recess.

Today, Conservative leadership contenders James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch will launch their campaigns to succeed Rishi Sunak and become Leader of the Opposition.

While, Sir Keir Starmer will visit a school in London after Labour announced it would scrap one-word Ofsted judgments despite warnings it could harm pupils by dumbing down standards.

MPs are expected to return to the House of Commons this afternoon in what could be a busy first week back in Parliament.

We will bring you all the latest developments and reaction throughout the day.