There are many historic moments at Westminster, and hearing Rishi Sunak speak this afternoon, in a very hot Committee Room 14, shortly after becoming the new Leader of the Conservative Party was certainly one of them.
I backed Rishi to be our Leader through this summer, because of his sound economic plan. When Liz resigned last week, there was no doubt in my mind that Rishi was the right man, as someone who understands the economy, made the big financial calls during the pandemic to ensure so many of our businesses were saved, and did foresee the issues released by the mini budget.
This afternoon he spoke of how much unites us as a party, and I am committed to working for everyone in North Devon, under his leadership, as I tried to under Liz, and would have done under Boris or Penny had their bids been successful. As a party we have many great politicians and potential leaders, and Rishi’s first statement was to thank the three of them. I recognise not everyone will agree with my decision to back Rishi, the process the Conservative Party is governed by, or even that Boris also had to resign earlier in the year.
As someone who works alongside all these people, I can honestly say the media’s representation of events is rarely completely accurate, or unbiased. Rishi visited Ilfracombe earlier this year, and having worked briefly at the Treasury with him I know he understands the economy and the pressures our economy is under, but he also understands rural Britain and our unique challenges as well.
I have no doubt that Rishi is the right man to lead us through what we all know is a difficult period and as he closed with this afternoon, Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating in North Devon.
Selaine Saxby MP for North Devon
