London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Conservative Party leadership: I'd tackle inflation before cutting tax, says Sunak

Conservative Party leadership: I'd tackle inflation before cutting tax, says Sunak

Rishi Sunak has said he will "get a grip of inflation" before cutting tax, if he becomes prime minister.

The former chancellor - who resigned last week after losing faith in Boris Johnson - said inflation was the "number one economic priority".

"Once we've done that, I will deliver tax cuts," he said.

Meanwhile, Penny Mordaunt - who remains the bookies' favourite to be new PM - has defended her record as a minister, after criticism from rival camps.

"Look at my record, look at what I've done," Ms Mordaunt told the Daily Telegraph. "I do get stuff done."

Five Conservative MPs - Mr Sunak, Ms Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch, and Tom Tugendhat - are competing to become new party leader, and therefore prime minister.

Tory MPs will whittle the candidates down to two in votes next week, before party members choose the winner.

Mr Sunak was speaking on a visit to Teesside, the day after the five candidates had their first TV debate.

"I think the number one economic priority we face as a country is inflation," he told the media on his visit.

"I want to get a grip of inflation because inflation is what makes everybody poorer. If we don't get a grip of it now it will last longer and that is not a good thing.

"Once we've done that, I will deliver tax cuts."

Tax is one of the main dividing lines between the leadership candidates, with some - such as Ms Truss and Ms Mordaunt - promising immediate cuts.

Ms Truss said she would reverse April's national insurance rise, postpone planned increases in corporation tax, and scrap green levies.

Critics say the plans would cost more than £30bn a year - and at Friday's debate Mr Sunak said "borrowing your way out of inflation isn't a plan, it's a fairy tale".

The rate of inflation - which measures how quickly prices are rising - is currently 9.1%, and the Bank of England has warned it could rise further.

Ms Mordaunt, meanwhile, has insisted she does "get stuff done" after criticism of her record.

Lord Frost - who worked with Ms Mordaunt when he negotiated the UK's exit from the EU - said he "would have grave reservations" about her as prime minister.

"I'm sorry to say this, she did not master the necessary detail in the negotiations last year," Lord Frost told Talk TV on Thursday.

But Ms Mordaunt - who has held a number of positions in government, including a brief spell as defence secretary - defended her record.

"Look at my record, look at what I've done," she told the Telegraph.

"The first job that I had in government, I managed to bring the firefighters' dispute, pensions dispute and strikes to an end. Other ministers didn't...

"People look at my record and people will have seen me at the dispatch box and people know who I am.

"That's why I'm taking support from across our party and that's why I'm topping every poll out in the country."

Although Ms Mordaunt remains favourite with the bookmakers, a poll for the Sunday Telegraph suggested that - of those who had heard of all five candidates - Mr Sunak had the highest approval rating among Tory voters.

During Friday's debate, Ms Mordaunt was challenged on her record on gender self-identification for trans people.

She said that, while she was equalities minister, she had begun a consultation of the Gender Recognition Act but had not been in favour of self-identification - people being able to change gender legally without, for example, medical diagnosis.
But Ms

Badenoch said when she became a junior equalities minister in 2020, self-ID "was being pushed" - and her understanding was that Ms Mordaunt had pushed for it.

Ms Mordaunt replied: "That is not correct and this will all be on record in government."

On Saturday, Mr Sunak was asked for his views on gender identity. He said that, as a father of two young girls, he wanted to make sure "women's rights are protected - whether that's in sports, in changing rooms, or in language".

"But of course I respect everyone's freedom to love who they want and live as they live," he added.


WATCH: I don't see myself as a socialist chancellor - Sunak

WATCH: The first TV debate in 90 seconds


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×