Three more candidates—Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, and Penny Mordaunt—have joined the race to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party, meaning nine Tory MPs have now put themselves forward to become the next prime minister.
Declaring their candidacies in The Telegraph, Hunt billed himself as the most “experienced” hand in the leadership contest and also attempted to differentiate himself from the crowded field with a pitch based on his decision to stay on the backbench while Johnson was at the helm of the government.
Jeremy Hunt, then foreign secretary, arrives at 10 Downing Street in London, on Dec. 4, 2018. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
He told the BBC’s “Sunday Morning” programme that there were “a lot of very angry voters” who had abandoned the party in recent months, adding, “They are not going to come back to us automatically and choosing me will be a very strong signal that the Conservative Party has listened to their anger.”…