of ours, council rebuild this party of ours, council by seat, word by word, street by street, one party with one purpose, to turn the page on this useless labour government, to get into government, to look to the future with one voice and say that it is morning once again in this great country of ours. that must be our mission, our purpose, sojoin me on thisjourney together, mission, our purpose, sojoin me on this journey together, we will win and we will be in the business of the future. thank you. studio: james cleverly, the second of the four candidates speaking today, the leadership for the conservative party, hearing a speech

from each one and james cleverly vowing to sell the benefits of conservativism with a smile. he talked about positivity as the person who talked before him, tom tugendhat, had. he went further and tugendhat, had. he went furtherand told tugendhat, had. he went further and told the tories, they need to be more normal, as he put it. he talked about such a wide range of different issues. his wife and how she battled cancer, and how the nhs was wonderful when she needed it, and he talked about some of the achievements of the conservative government. he also talked about his time in government. let's talk to our correspondent listening in. damian, what do you take from james cleverly? it felt like it went on for more than 20 minutes, i'm not sure if itjust felt like that. i sure if it just felt like that. i think it's dead. we were not tailing exactly. we think it went on for maybe 30 minutes —— we were not —— i

think it did, we were not timing exactly. you could hear some of the moments were clearly the audience reacted, they liked some of what he was saying. he is a polished performer, he has been a very senior minister, foreign secretary, home secretary, party chairman, he knows the party, he knows the mps and he played on that certainly. he said that he was a winner, that if they wanted the person who had proved they could do it before, they should go for him, and that his credentials but also a way of playing down his rivals who don't have quite that same cv, if you like. interesting was the light and shade. you saw in the black and yellow dress, getting up the black and yellow dress, getting up to applaud him at the end, his wife susie who featured in the speech. that's a story he has told

before, about her breast cancer, and how scared he was, and his gratitude to the nhs for the treatment they gave her, but he did that again, he tried to inject that sort of personal touch. we had that before from tom tugendhat in his speech, talking about his military service. we had a bit more from james cleverly, building a personal story, we had about his wife, his parents, his background as a mixed race kid in lewisham, thejokes he made at the expense of his own literary service, that might have been a bit of a dig at tom tugendhat, so a bit of a dig at tom tugendhat, so a bit of light and shade from james cleverly but the most interesting thing, i thought, cleverly but the most interesting thing, ithought, was cleverly but the most interesting thing, i thought, was when he took on reform and said there would be no pact, no deals, that got a pretty big round of applause and cheer, and

his conviction, saying he wants to win back voters on all sides, he wants to reshape the party in that way. the other candidates who are coming now have an even more focused message about taking on reformed —— reform. message about taking on reformed -- reform. ., , message about taking on reformed -- reform. .,, g a , reform. robert jenrick is next. james cleverly _ reform. robert jenrick is next. james cleverly spoke _ reform. robert jenrick is next. james cleverly spoke about. reform. robert jenrick is next. james cleverly spoke about hisi reform. robert jenrick is next. - james cleverly spoke about his time in different offices high up in government. how much is that a double edged sword, considering he has a record to bejudged on? he has a record to be judged on? he: clearly wants to make the most he can of having been in those positions. he talked about foreign secretary and things he had said to chinese leaders and the fact he said he knew what you needed to do in a crisis. a bit of a dig, it sounded like keir starmer —— it sounded like at keir starmer, because he said he understood the mistakes being made right now. now we have robert

jenrick coming on, his wife was applauding him. here he is. it’s applauding him. here he is. it's ureat to applauding him. here he is. it's great to be _ applauding him. here he is. it's great to be here, it's great to be home. i'm a midlands man, i grew up down the road in wolverhampton. it's good to be back. before i tell you about where i want to take this party, where i want to take our country, let me tell you about the place that made me. 50 years ago, in 1974, my dad, bill, and my mum, jenny, came here to birmingham. dad got a job at the last great iron foundry of the black country in causley. it was a vast victorian metal works that had made the pots

and pans of the empire. it was called canon industries because it had made the canon for wellington's army. my dad love that. mum and dad came to the west midlands to put down roots and get on in life but their dreams were put on hold because britain was broken. industries were crippled. councils were bankrupt. hope was gone. then, as now, a new labour government so fresh but already so stale. and what about us? what about the conservatives in opposition? the truth is, we were broken too. we had drifted into accepting a failed status quo, into believing the best

the conservative party can do in government is managed decline —— is manage decline. in that year for my family, 1974, our party made a big decision. we chose to change. we chose to change our leadership, to change our policies. we chose to reject defeatism. we reignited our confidence by looking again at our purpose and saying loudly what this party stands for. on the choices we made that year, 1974, lead our party to victory in 1979 under one of my heroines, a woman as strong as the iron cast in my dad's foundry, margaret thatcher. and, friends, her

conservative party reversed britain's decline and it did so by backing people like my mum and dad. they bought a home, they started a family, they founded a small business, they didn't need to tell me what their values were. they lived them. in the sweat and the sacrifice of building that business around their kitchen table, in the love and the security they gave to our family, love and the security they gave to ourfamily, in the love and the security they gave to our family, in the solemn duty and respect they showed to queen and country, decency, hard work, aspiration, patriotism, those were their values, cast in iron, built to last. i am so grateful to my parents

and i want to say thank you. i am in politics for the millions of people in our countryjust like them, devoted citizens, good neighbours, the people who get up early in the morning to put food on the table for theirfamilies, the people who morning to put food on the table for their families, the people who start small businesses around their kitchen tables, the people for whom there is no pressure group pressing their case, no lobby demanding their so—called rights. so if i am your leader, the pressure group for britain's hard—working majority will be us, the conservative party. that's who i am in politics for but

who is sir keir starmer in politics for it? well, the last three months have shown us who. convicted criminals, walking free. illegal migrants given an amnesty. well—paid train drivers given yet more money. all the while, the hard—working, silent majority waiting for huge tax rises, the nation's wealth creators fleeing en masse and millions of pensioners betrayed. imagine, friends, how currently you have to be to rob poor pensionersjust friends, how currently you have to be to rob poor pensioners just to placate your union paymasters. in fact, that is notjust currently, thatis fact, that is notjust currently, that is shameful —— that is notjust

cowardly. they have had 14 years to prepare for government, where is the vision? where is the boldness? the countryjust vision? where is the boldness? the country just voted for change and we've got is manage decline. —— more managed decline. sir keir starmer will take the knee but he will never take a stand. he doesn't even take a stand at the football any more, he's up stand at the football any more, he's up there in the executive box with his mates. it is painful that keir starmer can't see what we see, a nation that has given more to the world than any other, a nation brimming with potential, with talent, with so much to offer, let down only by big government and small mindedness, keir starmer sees

a nation fitted for the claim, needing more tax, more spent, more more tax, more spent, woke. with keir starmer, we've got an undertaker instead of a leader. and what about the cabinet, what about our new cabinet? well, rachel reeves. as wooden as pinocchio and only barely more honest. then we got ed miliband. whoever tells you the grown—ups are back in charge, look at ed miliband. a wallace missing his grommet. then there's david lammy, a foreign secretary, living proof that there is a more annoying lbc presenter than james proof that there is a more annoying

lbc presenter thanjames o'brien. lbc presenter than james o'brien. but lbc presenter thanjames o'brien. but seriously, friends, if we're to change this party, if we are going to turn it around, we've also got to be honest about where we've got to and what we did in our 14 years in office. iam and what we did in our 14 years in office. i am so proud of the achievements that we made in government. we reversed the appalling damage done by gordon brown to our public finances, we transformed our schools, we unleashed a decade of record levels of employment. we created a fairer welfare system. we got brexit done and we stood by ukraine in her hour of need. we lead europe in the defence of ukraine. so, friends, i will always celebrate our achievements. but we can't bury our

heads in the sand. just as we celebrate those achievements, we need to be honest with ourselves. the countryjust doesn't trust is right now —— trust us right now. we've just suffered our worst ever electoral defeat, we lost more seats and won fewer votes than any government ever. it was a comprehensive defeat and it needs a comprehensive defeat and it needs a comprehensive rethink. so, just as i will defend our achievements, i will friends, we must never more 1 achievements, , friends, we must never more1achievements, i friends, we must never be painfully honest about our more 1 achievements, i will will defend our achievements, i will be painfully honest about our failings. we failed to deliver the failings. we failed to deliver the strong nhs, the strong economy and, yes, the strong border that we promised.

friends, we must never