Tories backing Boris as voting starts in race for Number 10
The race for Number 10 has entered the “business end” as voting opens in the Tory leadership contest.
Ballots were today arriving at the homes of the Conservative Party’s 160,000 members, who are tasked with deciding who out of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will lead the country.
Mr Johnson remains the long odds on favourite to win the race, with a national media obsession over his private life seemingly not shared by the majority of members.
At the start of the battle, Mr Hunt said he revelled in the role of the underdog, but it remains to be seen if he can get enough grassroots members on board with his plans for the country.
Across the Black Country and Staffordshire, the majority of Tory MPs who have indicated support for a candidate are in Mr Johnson’s camp.
They include South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson, who led Mr Johnson’s successful parliamentary campaign, Dudley South MP Mike Wood, Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes and Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant.
Stone MP Sir Bill Cash is also on board, saying Mr Johnson is “completely right” to insist on the UK departing the EU by October 31.
Meanwhile Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier and Stourbridge MP Margot James have backed Mr Hunt.
Explaining his decision, Mr Garnier said the Foreign Secretary had the “most sensible and realisable” plan for Brexit and would “champion” the newly independent UK.
Four of the region’s MPs have not publicly declared their support for any candidate.
Aldridge-Brownhills MP Wendy Morton and Cannock Chase MP Amanda Milling are prohibited from doing so as they both hold jobs in the whips office, although Ms Milling is a long time ally of Mr Johnson’s.
Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP James Morris has to stay neutral as he is the party’s vice chair, while Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy has declined to publicly back either contender.
Large numbers of members from across the region appear to favor Mr Johnson, with some believing the former London Mayor is the only candidate capable of delivering Brexit.
It has also been widely suggested that Mr Hunt’s handling of the Mid-Staffs crisis has left an indelible mark, with many members holding him responsible for the ending of 24-hour emergency care in Stafford and the subsequent overcrowding problems at hospitals across the Black Country.
Staffordshire County councillor Jonathan Price, a member of the Stafford Conservative Association, said: “I have backed Boris Johnson, chiefly because of his pledge to put significant funding into education.
“Of course, we have to get Brexit delivered, and although I think doing it by October 31 will be a major challenge for whoever wins, I think Boris has the best chance.
“Jeremy Hunt is a very good and capable politician, but people in this area still associate him with what happened with Mid-Staffs.
“That caused an awful lot of harm, and people will remember that when they cast their votes.”
Udey Singh, a member of the Wolverhampton South East Conservative association and a city councillor for Tettenhall, is also backing Mr Johnson.
“He had a good record as London Mayor and was at the forefront of the Brexit campaign,” Mr Singh said. “At this point we need a strong Brexiteer to deliver what the people of Wolverhampton and the UK voted for.”
Henry Carver, a former chairman of the city’s regional Tory association, said he believed Mr Hunt would be a more “pragmatic” leader than Mr Johnson.
“Boris’s commitment to leave [the EU] on October 31 is a needless risk,” he said. “I think Hunt would prove to be a harder working leader. He probably won’t be as much fun, but he’ll do the negotiations better.”
Councillor Rose Martin, a member of the Walsall North and South Conservative Federation, said: “We’ve got to come out of Europe or the Conservative Party is done for.
“Boris Johnson is the only person who can deliver Brexit, unite the party and unite the country. As long as he’s got a good minder around him who doesn’t want his job, he will be fine. It has got to be Boris.”
Sue Greenaway, a councillor for Brockmoor and Pensnett and a member of the Dudley South Conservative Association, is another to have backed Mr Johnson.
"He's a Leave supporter and the candidate who I believe will deliver Brexit," she said.
Tory members will receive their postal ballots between over the next three days.
Voting closes on July 22, with the winner expected to be announced the following day.
