Mr. Tugendhat said he had “witnessed the recent political trauma” within the Tory ranks “with a combination of depression and anger” and that he had seen “duty give way to ego” when speaking from Westminster at the start of his campaign.
However, he maintained that the party would “bring back an honest, responsible state – one that serves you, leads the changes that we need and acts on its word” under his leadership.
One of the six contenders seeking to take the Conservatives’ place after their massive defeat by Labour in the July general election is Mr. Tugendhat. Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, and Dame are the others.
Both Mr. Cleverly and Ms. Badenoch had their debuts on Monday; the latter promised to reinstate parts of their policies, such as the Rwanda deportation program, while the former also criticized the previous administration, which she worked in.
All six will participate in hustings in parliament later on Tuesday in advance of the first round of MP voting on Wednesday, when the candidate receiving the fewest votes will be ousted from the race.
To narrow the field to four candidates, there will be one more round of voting on Monday of next week. At the end of the month, the candidates will participate in an onstage hustings during the Conservative Party conference.
