Cleverly bid to lead Tories gathers pace after speech stating ‘unwavering’ support for Israel
The former home and foreign secretary joined the three other hopefuls to give their final speeches at Tory Party conference
James Cleverly has emerged as a new live contender to become the next Tory leader after delivering a speech in which told those at party conference of his “unwavering support for Israel.”
The former home and foreign secretary joined the three other hopefuls – Kemi Badonoch, Tom Tugendhadt and Robert Jenrick – in delivering a speech to party members and former and current parliamentarians on stage in Birmingham.
But in what was later reckoned to be the standout speech by many, Cleverly also claimed to have “supported our Jewish community here in Britain” by “tightening the policing of protests on Gaza and holding the police accountable for their actions.”
Cleverly is now thought to be attracting enough support to seen him mount a real challenge to long-time frontrunners Jenrick and Badenoch in the leadership race.
Cleverly had also suggested that despite advice for the foreign office to wait for events to unveil he was ” the first Foreign Minister to go to Israel after the 7th October terrorist attacks.”
He said ” leadership is about standing by your values and standing shoulder to shoulder with your allies and friends” before adding:”I now restate my unwavering support to the people of Israel.”
Speaking firstly Tugendhadt stressed his military background, before saying he was “proud of the role played by our armed forces overnight” after it emerged the UK had supported Israel after Tehran fired nearly 200 missiles at the Jewish state.
Despite speaking earlier at conference to express their support for Israel, Jenrick and Badenoch both decided not to discuss the issue in their final speeches at the party conference.
But the pair both referred to the treatment of a Batley teacher who showed a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.
“We cannot sit by as the left denigrates our history and pulls down our monuments,” said Badenoch. “We must not be afraid, as we were in Batley to get involved, where a teacher was driven into hiding by Islamist thugs.”
One of the four candidates will be eliminated as the contest nears its conclusion.
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