PAC chairman may join Tory leadership race
Public Accounts Committee chairman Edward Leigh considers joining Tory leadership race
The Commons Public Accounts Committee chairman Edward Leigh has said he is
considering throwing his hat into the Tory leadership race, with savage tax cuts
a key plank of his platform.
The right-wing former junior Trade and Industry minister claimed he would
appeal to Conservative MPs seeking a leader with a ‘radical’ agenda.
He made clear his commitment to policies pursued by former prime minister
Lady Thatcher, saying it would be ‘exciting’ to campaign on the basis of putting
£1,000 a year back into people’s pay packets.
Leigh would be following in the footsteps of former PAC chairman David Davis,
shadow home secretary, whom he claimed had the support of no more than 40 MPs.
He claimed former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke, another likely contender, was ‘a
bit of a throwback’ to the John Major era who would split the party.