Andrea Leadsom launches bid to become Tory PM

Andrea Leadsom launched her bid to become the next prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party on Monday, vowing to follow through with Brexit and end the free of movement of people.

The 53-year-old former City banker and energy minister said that EU referendum result was “a great moment in history” and that it is “perhaps the biggest since the Berlin Wall came down”. She affirmed that Brexit will happen as the result absolute.

"The result is final, it must be respected, and I will respect it. The UK will leave the EU and freedom of movement will end."

"We want to be able to control the numbers that are coming here. I don't think there should be another general election.

"Freedom of movement will end, and the British parliament will decide how many people enter our country each year to live, work and contribute to our national life."

But she did maintain that she would guarantee the rights of EU citizens already living the UK. “I commit today to guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who have come here to live and work. We must give them certainty there is no way they will be bargaining chips in our negotiations."

Leadsom launched her campaign to join contenders Theresa May, Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox. The candidates are canvassing for support from MPs to make it on the ballot ahead of the first round of voting on Tuesday. The new prime minister will be announced on 9 September.

She has won the backing of senior Conservative MPs including Iain Duncan Smith and John Redwood.

Leadsom, who entered parliament in 2010, has been energy minister for two years and was previously economic secretary to the Treasury. Prior to becoming an MP, she was a councillor and worked in the City as a banker for 25 years.

As an MP for only six years she is the least politically experienced out of the candidates, and if she succeeds she will be the least experienced prime minister since William Pitt the Younger.

Leadsom was part of the Leave campaign during the EU referendum but in April 2013 she said in the Hansard Society’s annual parliamentary affairs lecture that Brexit would be a “disaster”.

“I’m going to nail my colours to the mast here: I don’t think the UK should leave the EU. I think it would be a disaster for our economy and it would lead to a decade of economic and political uncertainty at a time when the tectonic plates of global success are moving," she had said.

“Economic success is the vital underpinning of every happy nation. The wellbeing we all crave goes hand in hand with economic success.”

Leadsom said that if she becomes prime minster she will invoke Article 50 immediately, to start Brexit negotiations with the EU to end uncertainty. She also ruled out an early general election and said that she had no allegiances to the Conservative party’s rival.

She said that the richest people were not her focus and she finds big bonuses “unacceptable”.

"The richest people in this country won't be the focus of my government." She added: "There will be a key minister for housing and they will stay in the job for the whole parliament, with a bigger budget."

Leadsom said she wanted to use money on early intervention “so that we can help children to learn before it is too late and we need to spend more money sorting out the problems. I am certain we can change that... My absolute commitment is to the emotional health of our nation”.

The MP for South Northamptonshire said: "I know I can seize the great opportunities for the UK in leaving the EU. I know how to strike deals in tough negotiations. I know as a woman how to succeed in a man's world."