MEL Stride has become the fourth Conservative MP to announce they are joining the race for the party’s leadership.

The former work and pensions secretary told BBC Breakfast on Friday he has been “fully nominated” as a candidate, joining Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader.

Stride, the MP for Central Devon, said he believed he was the right person to “unite the party”.

He said: “What we know from the General Election is that we’re in a very, very difficult place as a party, and I worry about that because I care about my party and I care about my country.

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“We’ve substantially lost the trust of the British people and we’ve lost our reputation for competence, and I believe that I’m in a very good position to address those issues going forward.

“In terms of trust, I think (the party) needs somebody who is going to be able to unite the party. People are not going to vote for a party that’s at each other’s throats all the time.

“I am respected, I think, right across the parliamentary party. I was chair of the Treasury Select Committee, the leader of the House of Commons, all of those things are roles about bringing people together.”

Stride retained his seat by just 61 votes at the General Election.

He also courted controversy after insisting concern for people’s mental health may have gone “too far”. 

Shadow communities secretary Kemi Badenoch (below), the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Sunak, and former home secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel are expected to put themselves forward before nominations close at 2.30pm on Monday.

Contenders need a proposer, seconder and eight other backers to stand.

Shadow home secretary Cleverly was first to confirm he was running for the leadership, saying he was “grateful for all the support” and “looking forward to getting out and about over the next few months”.

Tugendhat talked up his experience as former security minister and in the armed forces as he launched his bid, telling GB News he has a “track record of delivery” for the British people.

He said he was willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and denied that his change of tone on the matter was political opportunism.

He said he believed he could turn around the Tories’ disastrous result to win an election as leader of the Conservative Party in five years’ time but that the party needs to “be united” and “regain the trust of the British people”.

Jenrick’s campaign team said the ex-immigration minister has gathered enough support to run and that he would submit his nomination on Thursday morning.

His campaign manager Danny Kruger said Jenrick has the “energy, temperament and policy agenda to take on our rivals and lead us back to power in five years”.

The parliamentary party will narrow the field down to four, who will make their case at the Conservative Party conference, which runs from September 29 to October 2.

The final two, picked by the parliamentary party, will then go to a vote of party members in an online ballot that will close on October 31 with the result announced on November 2.

According to polling by Savanta carried out between July 19 and 21, Tugendhat is the most popular potential contender among both the public, at minus three points, and 2024 Conservative voters, at 21 points.

Patel is the least popular, at minus 28 points and seven points respectively, according to the research.

Cleverly is second in the running, Savanta’s findings suggest, at minus nine points with the public and 19 points among 2024 Conservative voters.