Tory Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced he’s standing to replace Theresa May as Conservative leader.

He’s the third serving cabinet minister to break cover since Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart.

His announcement comes after Theresa May said she was quitting as Prime Minister in a tearful televised address outside Number 10.

Three other candidates have firmly declared they will run – Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Remainer Mr Stewart – with Mr Johnson the firm favourite to take over.

And, speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme this morning, Mr Hancock also declared he was going for the top position, saying: “We need a leader for the future, not just now.”

 

 

He also said there would be no general election before Brexit is delivered, saying: “Some of my contenders may say that if they don’t get their preferred option, whether it be no deal or something else, then they’ll have a general election.

“I put it to you that would be a disaster for the country and it would risk Corbyn by Christmas.”

Mr Hancock stressed he would take a different approach to try and get Commons support for a Brexit deal than the one Theresa May used.

He said: “She didn’t start by levelling with people about the trade-offs.

 

“I think it is much, much easier to bring people together behind a proposal if you are straightforward in advance.”

Mr Hancock’s odds to win the race were put at 25/1 by Ladbrokes this morning. His previous role as Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary saw him launch his own, widely-mocked, app and he has pushed his digital transformation agenda hard.

Known for being close to George Osborne and David Cameron, he has previously said the new leader should put the Conservatives “four square in the centre ground”.

More than a dozen Tories have been tipped to contest the leadership, although Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd disappointed her supporters by ruling herself out of the contest.

The new Tory leader looks set to take over as prime minister at the end of July after Theresa May finally laid out a timetable for her exit from Downing Street.

Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson, who has emerged as the bookies’ favourite, stressed he would be prepared to back a no-deal departure to ensure the UK leaves the EU on October 31.

Mr Hunt is also a frontrunner for the post after telling a local festival yesterday it was “only right that my party constituency should be the first to know”.

The timetable for the contest will see nominations close in the week of June 10, with MPs involved in a series of votes to whittle down what is set to be a crowded field to a final two contenders.

Tory party members will then decide who wins the run-off.

Former foreign secretary and London mayor Mr Johnson, 54, is considered by most as the favourite to win the leadership race.

Easily recognisable thanks to his popularity on comedy TV shows, he nearly beat Mrs May to the top job in 2016, until friend Michael Gove decided to scupper his chances.

Since then, Mr Johnson has burnished his Leave credentials by walking out of Cabinet alongside David Davis in July last year, and has also cleared the decks on a notoriously complicated personal life.

In a speech in Switzerland on Friday, he was deemed to have vowed to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 “deal or no deal” if he is made PM.