REVEALED: Conservative MP that would be dream ticket for Reform as Tory leader
Tom Tugendhat (L), James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick (R) have all announced they will stand as the Conservative Party leader
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Rishi Sunak stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party shortly after the Labour Party won the 2024 General Election opening up a leadership contest among the Tories.
With the party in opposition for the first time since 2010, Tory MPs and members are now facing the choice of their new leader.
The shadow home secretary, James Cleverly, was the first to throw his hat in the ring announcing his candidacy in the Daily Telegraph.
Tom Tugendhat, the centrist left shadow security minister, and Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister also announced they would run for the Conservative Party leader.
Kemi Badenoch (L), Suella Braverman and Priti Patel (R) have all been tipped to run as leader of the Conservative Party
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Other Conservatives tipped to stand include former home secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel and shadow communities secretary Kemi Badenoch.
The Reform UK Party are hoping for one candidate to win the leadership race to enhance their chances of gaining more voters from the Conservative Party.
Tom Tugendhat, who has been described as a centrist left Tory, could rally the right behind Reform.
When asked by Ellie Costello on GB News on Thursday morning if a deal could be done with Reform and the Conservative Party Tom Tugendhat said: "Of course I want Reform voters to come back to the Conservative party."
But I also want people who voted for us in the past and are now voting Lib Dem to come back.
"I want people who voted for us in the past and then voted Labour to come back. Of course, I want all of these people to come back."
If Tugendhat concentrates on bringing left-leaning Conservative voters who moved to Labour and the Lib Dems back into the Tory fold he risks alienating right-wing voters who could easily move over to Reform.
Reform UK are hoping Tom Tugendhat will win the leadership race
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Political commentator Theo Usherwood also said Reform UK MPs have told him they want Tom Tugendhat to be the new Tory leader as "he's much of the same."
"There may be scepticism he's too close to Keir Starmer... it leaves a lot of room for Nigel Farage and Reform!" said Usherwood.
Usherwood explained that MPs on the right could argue that Tugendhat may "not be able to deliver in terms of other right-wing policies" and that they may be better off "splintering away" from the Conservative Party and joining Nigel Farage.
Nigel Farage predicted a handful of Tories will defect to Reform within a year describing an "appetite for something very different."
Farage also said a number of Red Wall Tories would still be in Parliament if they had followed Lee Anderson by switching sides to Reform.
He said: "Had a few of the others made that leap they would have been reelected, there are several seats where MPs, had they stood for Reform they would have won.
"I would be very surprised that within the next year some didn’t make that leap."