Mel Stride, who formerly held the position of secretary for labor and pensions, has announced his desire to seek the position of Conservative Party leader, succeeding Rishi Sunak in that role.
“I am fully nominated,” the Member of Parliament for Central Devon said about himself in an interview with BBC Breakfast, I was informed that I had been nominated for the position, and my candidature has been advanced.
In the same breath that Stride declared that the Tory party had “substantially lost the trust of the British people,” he also stated that the party had “lost its reputation for competence.”
He made the observation, “What we know from the general election is that we are in a very, very difficult place as a party, and I worry about that because I care about both my party and my country.” He was making a reference to the difficult circumstances that the party is currently facing.
In addition to losing our reputation for being competent, we have also lost a considerable amount of the faith that the people of the United Kingdom have placed in us. Given the circumstances, I am confident that I am in a very good position to address those issues going forward. In my perspective, [the party] is in need of somebody who is going to be able to bring the party together while maintaining a level of trust among its members.
A political party that is always engaged in dispute with one another is not likely to receive votes from individuals. This is a highly improbable occurrence. It is my belief that I am held in high regard throughout the entirety of the parliamentary party. Both as the leader of the House of Commons and as the chair of the Treasury select committee, I have had roles that allow me to bring people together. All of these positions are about bringing people together.Do not pay attention to the advertisement for the newsletter.
In addition, Stride stated that the Conservatives needed to reorganize the party in order to transform it into a “fighting machine.” “We’ve got elections coming up next year for county councils and so on,” Stride said, adding that he believes he will be in a good position to drive that type of transformation as well.