July 25, 2022 11.56 am This story is over 21 months old

Rishi Sunak tries to woo Lincolnshire Conservatives in Grantham visit

Leadership candidate began campaign in Lincolnshire
Rishi Sunak began his leadership campaign right here in Lincolnshire, as he held a speech in Grantham on Saturday. | Photo: Cllr Thomas Dyer
By Local Democracy Reporter

Rishi Sunak, the man bidding to become the next Prime Minister, has been in Grantham over the weekend to kick off his leadership campaign in the race against Liz Truss.

The leadership hopeful and former Chancellor came to Grantham, the birthplace of ex-Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to hold a speech at Vaculug tyre company on Saturday, July 23.

It marked the official beginning of his leadership campaign, as the search continues for the next Conservative party leader and subsequent Prime Minister of the country – following Boris Johnson’s pressured resignation earlier this month.

Rishi Sunak at his Grantham speech on Saturday, launching his leadership campaign. | Photo: Cllr Thomas Dyer

A number of candidates have been whittled down over the past few weeks before we arrived at our final two, Sunak and the current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

Sunak declared himself as “the only person who can beat Labour” during his Grantham speech, in which he said he would “get a grip of inflation” because “that’s what Margaret Thatcher would have done”.

The Richmond MP addressed the rising cost of living, Brexit, NHS pressures, Conservative values and a “broken” system in his address, which was well attended by a series of local people – including leader of Lincolnshire County Council Martin Hill.

Cllr Hill said it was good to see Mr Sunak choose Lincolnshire as the start point for his campaign, mentioning that he got to ask the candidate about “fairer funding” for rural areas and roads.

The vote for next Conservative Leader will be handled by the party members, with the next Prime Minister being announced by September 5.

So far in Lincolnshire, Grantham and Stamford MP Gareth Davies and Louth & Horncastle’s Victoria Atkins have declared their support for Rishi Sunak, while South Holland & The Deepings MP John Hayes has backed Liz Truss.

Other MPs in the county, including Scunthorpe’s Holly Mumby-Croft, Boston & Skegness’ Matt Warman, and Lincoln’s Karl McCartney, are yet to publicly endorse either candidate at the time of reporting.