My Plan to Give Britain a Better Future

Rishi Sunak

12 July 2022

We need to have a grown-up conversation about where we are, how we got here and what we intend to do about it. It’s a conversation for those of us gathered here in this room today and the Conservative Party more widely.

But, above all, it’s a conversation we need to have with the British people. And it starts with being honest with each other. That matters because the decisions we make in the coming days and weeks will set a course that will determine whether the next generation of British people inherent a stronger and more confident nation.

The Conservative Party was elected with a large majority, so it falls to us to decide who carries the flag forward in this parliament. But it is not a decision that should be made behind closed doors with no input from the public.

From the beginning, I wanted this campaign to be more than just my case for the leadership. I also wanted it to be a moment where the party and the country came together. Before I talk more about the campaign, I want to say something about how we got here.

I want to talk about Boris Johnson. As candidates to replace him, we owe it to the British people who elected Boris as Prime Minister in 2019 to explain why he is leaving office. There is something profoundly wrong about a process that sees a sitting Prime Minister replaced while the people doing the replacing pull the curtains and act like it’s nobody’s business but theirs. It’s everybody’s business.

So let me tell you how I see it. Boris Johnson is one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met. And, whatever some commentators may say, he has a good heart.

Did I disagree with him? Frequently. Is he flawed? Yes – and so are the rest of us. Was it no longer working? Yes, and that’s why I resigned.

But let me be clear. I will have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris, exaggerate his faults, or deny his efforts. We know his achievements: breaking the Brexit deadlock, winning a stunning election victory, rolling out a world-class vaccination programme and standing up for a free Ukraine when other leaders were still wringing their hands.

Some people might advise that I should avoid saying all of this in case it alienates people. But that wouldn’t be honest. If telling you what I think – positive and negative – costs me the leadership, so be it.

Since I declared a few short days ago, the response has been…well…overwhelming, beyond my imagination. Thousands of volunteers have reached out to join our campaign because they have heard a message of change.

I’m running a positive campaign focused on what my leadership can offer our party and our country. I will not engage in the negativity that you may have seen and read in the media. If others wish to do that, then let them – that’s not who we are. We can be better.

Because I look across the field of candidates and I see colleagues and friends. I see people I admire and respect. People with exceptional qualities. I want to say to all of them: we are still part of the same Conservative family and when this election is over, we’re going to work together for the British people.

But before that, we have to resolve some disagreements. Incredibly important disagreements about the nature and depth of our challenges that the country faces and the right response to them.

A pandemic that all but broke the world economy. A war in mainland Europe. And most visibly at home now, a global spike in inflation that has risen to levels not seen since the 70s and 80s.

When confronted with challenges so fundamental, the right place to start is with your values. And my values, traditional Conservative values, are clear: hard work, patriotism, fairness, a love of family, pragmatism, but also an unshakeable belief that we can build a better future.

Values…values that compel me to say it is completely unacceptable in this country that too many women and girls do not enjoy the same freedom most men take for granted in feeling safe from assault and abuse. That our natural environment is an inheritance we preserve and protect for future generations, and that at a time of rising global instability, we have a responsibility to the world to provide leadership. That is why, as Chancellor, I prioritised record funding for the armed services who represent the best of our country and do heroic work.

But as vital as values are, they are not enough. We need to have a grown-up conversation about the central policy question that all candidates have to answer in this election. Do you have a credible plan to protect our economy and get it growing?

My message to the party and the country is simple: I have a plan to steer our economy through these headwinds. We need a return to traditional Conservative economic values. And that’s means honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales.

It…it is not credible to promise lots more spending and lower taxes. I had to make some of the most difficult choices of my life as Chancellor, in particular, how to deal with our debt and borrowing after Covid. I have never hidden away from those. I certainly won’t pretend now the choices I made and the things I voted for were somehow not necessary.

And whilst that maybe politically inconvenient for me, it is also the truth. As is the fact that once we’ve gripped inflation, I will get the tax burden down. It is a question of ‘when,’ not ‘if’.

And I will achieve this because I have a clear plan to get our economy growing quickly. We need to implement the radical reforms I set out as Chancellor to the way businesses are taxed, to make our country the best place in the world to invest more, train more and critically to innovate more.

We need to use the new freedoms Brexit has given us, and the new mentality it can give us, to reform the mass of regulations, bureaucracy, and constraints that too often get in the way. We need to build a new consensus on people coming to our country: yes, to hard-working, talented, innovators, but crucially control of our borders.

And we need to transform the performance and productivity of our public services by integrating technology, empowering good leaders and caring much more about what actually works than what sounds good. I believe we can build a better, smaller, 21st-century government that helps to support growth and countries around the world seek to emulate.

If we do all of this, we will get our economy growing quickly again, not just for a short burst, but sustainably for generations to come. This is the surest path to tax cuts that work, to keeping our schools and NHS strong, to properly funding our armed forces and keeping our country safe.

So that is my plan: tackle inflation, grow the economy and cut taxes. It is a long-term approach that will deliver long-term gains for families and businesses across the United Kingdom.

I am prepared to give everything I have in service to our nation, to restore trust, rebuild our economy and reunite the country.

I want to have a grown-up conversation where I can tell you the truth: a better future is not given; it is earned.

That is why I am standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister.

Thank you.