Rishi Sunak launches leadership campaign, kicking off the Conservatives' hunt to replace Boris Johnson in earnest

Rishi Sunak (top, 2nd from left) and Suella Braverman (bottom right) are among those to have launched their campaign — Several names are in the frame for future prime minister
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Rishi Sunak launched a leadership campaign, kicking off a race to replace Boris Johnson.
The former chancellor, who resigned this week, announced his bid under the hashtag #ReadyforRishi.
Other candidates are backbencher Tom Tugendhat and AG Suella Braverman, but more will likely follow.

The Conservative party leadership kicked off in earnest on Friday, with the launch of a campaign by the former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Sunak, long seen as the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson before his possession of a US green card appeared to sink his chances, entered the race with a three-minute social media clip. Sunak built his reputation throughout the pandemic with a heavy reliance on Twitter and other social-media platforms.

Sunak, who quit his role this week over Johnson's refusal to leave office, emphasised his family background in his launch video, as well as his proficiency making tough decisions and "bringing people together".

—Ready For Rishi (@RishiSunak) July 8, 2022

He was immediately backed by former chief whip Mark Harper, by Angela Richardson — a former aide to Michael Gove, and by Jacob Young, an MP from the so-called "Red Wall."

His launch, under the hashtag #ReadyforRishi, follows that of Tom Tugendhat, from the political centre of the Conservative Party, who went public Thursday night.

Writing in The Telegraph Tugendhat, who has never held a ministerial role, said: "This nation needs a clean start, and a government that will make trust, service and an unrelenting focus on the cost of living crisis its guiding principles".

He has the backing of many of the One Nation caucus of moderates, including its chairman, former deputy prime minister Damian Green.

A number of others are expected to enter the leadership contest — which Conservative MPs told Insider would be "rapid" — as the party looks to draw a line under Johnson's time in Downing Street.

Sources previously told Insider that a timetable would be fixed on Monday, with MPs voting candidates as soon as Wednesday.

Several MPs and other Tory figures told Insider that Penny Mordaunt, a trade minister, was preparing to launch a campaign with support from a number of senior MPs.

The sources, who were not part of Mordaunt's campaign, were granted anonymity to speak frankly about the process.

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary who has been more recently seen as favourite, is yet to publicly declare.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, is also yet to launch her campaign. Other possible names including Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt and Steve Baker.

Suella Braverman, the attorney general who was first out of the blocks to launch a campaign. She declared her intention to run even before Johnson has resigned, and has the support of a handful of MPs including Sir Desmond Swayne and Henry Smith.