Eight Conservative MPs have so far said they will stand in the race to replace Theresa May as prime minister. This is where they stand on Brexit.
Boris Johnson
Johnson has clearly set out his view that the UK must leave the EU by the end of October, effectively challenging other pro-Brexit candidates to make the same promise. He would have another go at renegotiating the Northern Ireland backstop to stop it being indefinite but proceed with a no-deal policy if that were not possible.
Michael Gove
Gove has said the next leader must not only believe in Brexit but have the “wherewithal to deliver it”, in an apparent swipe at Johnson’s organisational skills. The former Vote Leave campaigner is a true Brexiter but has not tied his hands by promising to get the UK out of the EU by October. Instead, he has said he would run as a “unity candidate”, suggesting he would push first and foremost for a deal.
Jeremy Hunt
The foreign secretary, dubbed a “born-again Brexiter” by colleagues, has pitched himself as the candidate with the business skills to carry out a better negotiation than Theresa May. He would keep leaving without a withdrawal agreement on the table as an option, but claims to be the one with “the experience to avoid the Scylla and Charybdis of no deal or no Brexit”.
Dominic Raab
Raab, like Johnson, has promised to take the UK out of the EU on 31 October regardless. He has even hinted he could override the will of MPs to carry out Brexit without a deal, saying it would be difficult for parliament to legislate against it. He also stressed that he was a lawyer and a “details guy”, which appeared to be an attempt to contrast his own credentials with those of Johnson.
Matt Hancock
Hancock is determined to do a compromise Brexit deal and would not pursue a no-deal policy. He said a new prime minister would have to be clear about the trade-offs “between sovereignty and market access to get a deal through this parliament”. His big pitch to MPs is that he would avoid the need for a general election until Brexit had been delivered.
Rory Stewart
Stewart is the softest Brexiter running. He says he wants to leave the EU with a deal and then move on to tackle pressing domestic policies. He stresses the importance of the union and would appoint a new secretary of state to defend it, so is not a fan of a second referendum. Stewart has also caused trouble for Johnson by suggesting that the former London mayor is privately not keen on a no-deal Brexit.
Andrea Leadsom
The former leader of the Commons, whose resignation helped to hasten May’s departure from No 10, is another Brexit pragmatist, preferring a deal but prepared to go for no deal at the end of October, like both Johnson and Raab. “I think any policy needs to be that is the date of our departure,” she said.
Esther McVey
McVey has the hardest Brexit position of the lot, after holding out against Theresa May’s deal throughout the various votes. She would take the UK out of the EU without a deal regardless. “The withdrawal agreement ship has sailed and needs to be put out of its misery,” she said.
Yet to declare
Sajid Javid, Steve Baker, James Cleverly, Graham Brady, Priti Patel and Penny Mordaunt.
