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Penny Mordaunt has formally announced that she is entering the Tory leadership contest to replace Liz Truss.
The Commons Leader, who finished third in the race held during the summer, said: "I’ve been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest.
"I’m running to be the leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister - to unite our country, deliver our pledges and win the next GE."
Ms Mordaunt is the first candidate to publicly declare that she is running. She is viewed as one of three frontrunners in the contest, along with Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson.
Mr Sunak now has the public endorsements of 75 Tory MPs while Mr Johnson is on 41 and Ms Mordaunt is on 18. Candidates will need the support of 100 Tory MPs by 2pm on Monday to make it onto the ballot paper.
It came as Sajid Javid, who previously backed Liz Truss, urged his party to back Mr Sunak to move on from the "mistakes" of recent months, while Alok Sharma, the Cop26 President, came out in favour of Mr Johnson.
