Mel Stride to stand in Conservative leadership contest

Former work and pensions secretary announces candidacy, saying Tories have ‘lost the trust of the British people’

Mel Stride has become the latest Conservative MP to announce he intends to run for the leadership of his party, saying the Tories have “substantially lost the trust of the British people”.

The former work and pensions secretary said on Friday morning he had won enough parliamentary support to run as a candidate in the leadership contest, which formally begins next week and will run until November.