Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid have joined the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister to replace Boris Johnson.
The two former health secretaries used the Daily Telegraph to launch their bids to take over from Johnson who announced on Thursday he was quitting following a revolt from his Cabinet and MPs.
Hunt and Javid both said they would not only scrap the former chancellor's plans to raise corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent in April, but reduce the rate to 15 per cent.
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Hunt, a former Foreign Secretary, also attempted to differentiate himself from the crowded field with a pitch based on his decision to stay on the backbench while Boris Johnson was at the helm of the Government.
Zahawi, Rishi Sunak's successor, had said earlier this week that "everything is on the table" when questioned over the tax rise.
The leadership contenders' timescales for the change are different, with Hunt slashing the tax to 15p in his first autumn Budget, while Javid would set a "glide path".
Javid also said he would scrap the Government's controversial national insurance hike, bring forward the planned 1p income tax cut to next year, and introduce a further "significant" temporary reduction on fuel duty.
The pair spelled out their economic plans in separate interviews with the newspaper.
In addition to cutting corporation tax, Hunt said he would remove business rates for five years for the communities most in need.
Most of those areas are in the so-called "Red Wall" of traditional Labour heartlands, the newspaper said, with a quarter of locations in England and Wales in line for the tax break.
Scotland and Northern Ireland would get money to match the policy.
Hunt said: "What matters is wealth creation, which means that people don't feel that they need to leave a Bolton or a Bolsover because they can get better jobs in Manchester or London. They can actually stay there.
"That means helping them have opportunities at home that makes talented people want to stay, not go."
Meanwhile, he pledged to continue pushing legislation to overwrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol through Parliament.
Javid said his plan for the economy would cover both short-term measures - including a new package of support worth up to £5 billion to help with energy bills - and a "longer-term" vision for tax reform.
He said: "The Government can't prevent the impact of high price rises on everyone. You can't mitigate everything.
"The long way out of this, the better way, is to turbo growth. I've always believed in free markets, in low taxation, in light regulation, as the conditions that are necessary for growth.
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