Tory leadership: Pledges of ‘wealth creation’ and red tape cuts in speeches

Promises to champion “wealth creation” and slash red tape will be offered to party members as the four candidates vying for the Tory leadership give their keynote conference speeches.

Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat will take to the main stage at the Conservative Party’s annual event in Birmingham on Wednesday morning as the battle to take up the leadership mantle from Rishi Sunak enters its final weeks.

The candidates will speak to an audience of party members and journalists for 20-minutes each, after they each took part in an hour-long audience Q&A session with GB News’ Christopher Hope earlier this week, ahead of another round of MPs voting to slim the field.

Former business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch is expected to argue in favour of investors and business owners and vow to focus on increasing productivity, in the wake of a row over her comments on maternity pay and the minimum wage hampering small firms.

She will say: “The Conservatives have to be the party of wealth creation. 

“Wealth is not a dirty word. It supports jobs and families. It pays for our schools, for our health service. We should encourage it.”

The former migration minister Robert Jenrick, who has closed in on Badenoch’s lead according to a new Sky News and YouGov poll, will tell members he is calling for “a new Conservative Party… built on the rock of our oldest values and best traditions”.

He will set out “five changes the New Conservative Party must make”, which are understood to be: to reject mass migration; a focus on cheap, reliable energy; to get Britain building again; public sector reform for a smaller state; and to build a more united country.

While fellow hopeful – and former security minister – Tom Tugendhat will offer a promise to members and British voters to “make you proud to vote Conservative again” in his leadership speech.

He will also outline what he calls a ‘new Conservative revolution’, and is set to pledge to “build an economy that works for you. 

“That delivers homes and jobs for our children; that helps people back to well-paid work. That lets you choose what you do with your money… that’s what I will deliver.”

And former home and foreign secretary – seen as rivalling Tugendhat for the moderate wing’s vote – James Cleverly is expected to sell a vision of a positive, optimistic politics. 

“I want to get the heel of the state off your neck, get their noses out of your business, and their hands out of your pocket,” he is prepared to say.

Cleverly will add: “Let’s be enthusiastic; relatable; positive; optimistic. Let’s sell the benefits of a Conservative government with a smile… we win back voters by being honest, by being professional, by being Conservative.”

It comes as the final event at a party conference defined by the leadership contest, ahead of a final vote by MPs to whittle the four candidates down to two.

Party members will have their own say in a final head-to-head round, with the winner expected to be declared Conservative Party leader on 2 November.

There have been calls to bring the date forward to allow the victor to respond to the Labour government’s first Budget on 30 October, amid warnings of tax rises that could limit growth.