Fox hints at leadership bid
Shadow foreign secretary Liam Fox has announced that he is to enter the Conservative leadership race.
Dr Fox told the News of the World he would formally announce his candidacy on Tuesday.
He will join former chancellor Ken Clarke and former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind, who have already announced their intention to enter the contest to find a new Tory leader, after Michael Howard announced he would stand down following May’s general election.
Other senior Tories including shadow home secretary David Davis and shadow education secretary David Cameron are also expected to enter the race, which will see Mr Howard stand aside once his replacement has been chosen.
Dr Fox insisted that he was the only candidate in the contest offering “a positive vision of the future.”
The former GP said he would also have the ability to reach out to all
sections of the Conservative party.
“I’m 43. I’ve been a minister and a Conservative Party chairman. I can provide a leadership that is relevant to all sections of the party and can reach out to our younger members and MPs,” he told the News of the World.
“I would not be standing if I did not think I could win.”
Commenting on the political fortunes of his party, Dr Fox added that the Conservatives had to highlight to the public that they were a “natural party of government.”
“Instead of reaching inside ourselves we need to remind the country we are the natural party of government,” he said.
Dr Fox, whose grandfathers were both miners, also stressed that his background would help him appeal to ordinary voters.
“I am from a family that was a Thatcherite success story so I know what it is like to live under a successful Conservative government,” he said.
On Saturday, current leader Michael Howard urged Tory activists meeting for the party’s National Convention to approve proposed changes to give Conservative MPs the final say in the election of his successor.
Mr Howard warned grassroots members that it was imperative his replacement could “command the clear support” of MPs.
