This week we have been voting on the final stages of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. This will be the final piece of legislation before we break for summer recess.

Following the Labour Party’s attempt to bring a vote of no confidence in both the Prime Minister and the Government, the Government brought its own vote of confidence in itself, which it resoundingly won! These votes matter – if a government loses such a vote, it automatically triggers a general election. One Conservative MP who didn’t bother to turn up lost the whip!

Conservative MPs have also been busy selecting the final candidates in the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. Hustings are everywhere!

At the point that you are reading this column, the final two candidates in the Conservative leadership race will have been chosen by the Conservative Parliamentary Party, the MPs.

These two candidates will then spend the summer at hustings around the country before the party members vote to elect the winner later in the summer.

The winner will be announced on September 5. At the time of writing this column, there are still four candidates in the race, although I am willing to make a prediction that the final two will be Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.

But first, I want to take a moment to talk about the campaign run by Tom Tugendhat, who was knocked out of the race. I am proud to have supported Tom and his campaign and his determination to offer the country a clean start.

Had this been a contest for a leader whilst in opposition, I have no doubt that he would have won. He stood for truly Conservative values and would have introduced Conservative policies – and he was – and still will be in the future – a general election winner. Clearly, however, this time the electorate of MPs in this context wanted more experience.

Tom ran a fantastic campaign, showing integrity and the leadership qualities that this country needs.  I am certain that not only will the next Prime Minister (whoever she or he may be) rightly offer Tom a top ministerial position but he will also remain a leading voice in the Conservative party.

The contest now is very much between Rishi Sunak and the other three candidates (Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Penny Mordaunt). Rishi already has the votes of almost a third of the MPs. He is a polished performer and stepping into no 10 will be something he is more than capable of doing. My concern is with his policies. We did not vote to remove Boris for more of the same. I want to hear more from him about how he will address the cost-of-living crisis and how he will drive growth. To date he has been silent on both.

The other three candidates have a different approach to the economy. All of them talk about growth and all talk about tax cuts. While the wrong tax cuts will risk raising inflation, the right ones will not. And the time for action is now.

Fiddling with income tax might well negatively impact inflation, but cancelling the corporation tax rate increase and reducing VAT on energy and fuel will not. However it is not just on the economy that we must judge these three – it is the broad canvass of their other policies, their ability to lead and fight the UK’s corner with the experience to do it. Liz Truss may not be a polished performer but she has grit, determination and a truly Conservative clear set of policies. That is why she will get my vote.

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