Yahoo Finance Sajid Javid labels Boris Johnson 'yesterday's news' as he launches his bid to be Prime Minister
After a delay following the narrow Government victory to prevent Labour’s attempt to block a prorogation of parliament, Sajid Javid launched his campaign to become the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister.
Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson introduced the Home Secretary, who described Javid as “the best placed man to take our country forward”.
Javid layered his speech with talk of unity and optimism, and support for the public services which he credits for his rise from the son of a bus driver in Rochdale to Cabinet.
He highlighted the need for the Tories to reach out to non-traditional supporters in demographics they’ve previously found hard to reach —including young women, minorities and working class voters.
Speaking previous scandals such as Grenfell, Windrush and rough sleeping, he said that the government must reach out to those who have previously been excluded by the Government.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson launches Tory leadership campaign
Javid continued his One Nation rhetoric when discussing his support for public services, saying that they “aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, they are the beating heart of the country”, and that Brexit should be treated as part of a revolt against the UK establishment, not just that of the EU.
Due to this belief, Javid pledged to take on “the elite and the cartels in the public and the private sector”.
On Brexit, Javid underlined his hardline credentials previously undermined by the collective responsibility which bound him in Cabinet.
The Home Secretary outlined that the UK needed to leave the EU in October, deal or no deal, and that his history of breaking significant deals during his time at Deutsche Bank (DB) would help him during future negotiations with the EU.
With this, he continued to underline the importance of the domestic agenda which has been missing under May, saying that, he would govern from “Brexit and beyond”, and outlined that the Conservatives would not win the next election on Brexit alone.
In order to differentiate himself from frontrunner, he characterised himself as “tomorrow’s leader, and branded front-runner Boris Johnson as “yesterdays news.”
READ MORE: No-deal posturing is damaging businesses, Tories warned
