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Tory leadership contest: Mark Harper is 12th MP to enter race Tory leadership contest: Mark Harper is 12th MP to enter race
(about 13 hours later)
Conservative MP Mark Harper has become the 12th candidate to join the race to replace Prime Minister Theresa May. Mark Harper has become the 12th candidate to join the race for the Conservative leadership.
The former chief whip told the Daily Telegraph he was "quite happy to acknowledge that in this contest I am the underdog". The backbench MP, who was a minister in David Cameron's government, said he could offer a "fresh approach" to "deliver on the promises we have made".
He faces 11 other candidates, including five current and four former cabinet ministers. His rivals to replace Theresa May include five current and four former cabinet ministers.
The winner, expected to be announced by the end of July, will succeed Mrs May as Tory leader and UK prime minister. The winner of the contest, expected to be announced by the end of July, will also become prime minister.
Mr Harper, MP for the Forest of Dean, was a minister in the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions during the 2010-2015 coalition government and is a former chief whip. Mr Harper, MP for the Forest of Dean, was a minister in the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions during the 2010-2015 coalition government and is a former chief whip - whose role is to maintain party discipline and ensure its MPs vote with the government.
Who will replace Theresa May?Who will replace Theresa May?
The winner of the contest to lead the Conservative Party will become the next prime minister.The winner of the contest to lead the Conservative Party will become the next prime minister.
He resigned as an immigration minister in 2014 after it emerged that his cleaner did not have permission to work in the UK.He resigned as an immigration minister in 2014 after it emerged that his cleaner did not have permission to work in the UK.
"We've seen basically the same faces saying the same things that they've been saying for the last three years," he told the Daily Telegraph. Mr Harper told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that, while he had ministerial experience, it was an advantage that he had not served in Mrs May's government and he considered himself to be "the underdog in this race".
"A number of them have tried to position themselves as fresh faces but I'm afraid they've sat around the cabinet table sharing the responsibility with the prime minister." "Most people think that, particularly on Brexit, the current government hasn't got it right," he said.
"The prime minister has taken most of the responsibility for that... but there's a cabinet there and my judgement is, they have been responsible as well.
"I think a new start with a fresh approach is required and I am the only candidate who hasn't been part of her administration, and I think I can bring that new approach which can hopefully deliver on the promises we have made."
CBI letter
Mr Harper, who backed Remain during the 2016 EU Referendum, said: "I'm a democrat and I want to deliver Brexit."
He said he believed there would need to be a "short, focused" extension to the current 31 October Brexit date to allow for a deal to be renegotiated.
But he added: "My preference is to leave with a deal. I think that is what is best for the UK and the constitutional integrity of the UK, but if I am faced with the choice between not leaving at all and leaving without a deal, then I would leave without a deal - keep 'no deal' on the table."
Meanwhile, the business lobby group the CBI has warned that a no-deal Brexit would do "severe" damage to businesses, in an open letter to the Tory leadership candidates.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has said the rules of the contest should be changed so candidates need more MPs to back them before running.
On Thursday, he told the BBC the current threshold for nomination - the support of two MPs - should be "much higher" and the contest should be speeded up.
But Charles Walker, co-chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee, said: "We're not going to artificially limit the number of candidates who can stand."
The other declared candidates are:The other declared candidates are:
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said the rules should be changed so candidates needed more MPs to back them.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Duncan Smith told the BBC the threshold needed for MPs' nominations should be "much higher" and the contest should be speeded up in its early stages.
"I have never seen so many people lining up and there may be more," he said.
"We need to present a face of a party that actually can get jobs done," he said. "We don't want to have this meandering around looking like chaos."
But Charles Walker, co-chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee which sets the rules, played down the prospect of any change.
He told the BBC: "This is a leadership contest. We're not going to artificially limit the number of candidates who can stand."