Sir Gavin Williamson throws weight behind 'straight and honest' Rishi Sunak for Tory leadership
Sir Gavin Williamson has announced he is backing Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership race.
The former Cabinet minister said Mr Sunak was "by far the strongest performer" among the leadership hopefuls and would deliver for South Staffordshire and the Black Country.
The South Staffordshire MP told the Express & Star: "I think he is the candidate who can very much deliver on the agenda and the manifesto commitments that we made in 2019.
"I also think he can take us forward in the right way. As he's shown in Government he's by far and away the strongest performer and I think he will deliver for South Staffordshire and the Black Country."
Sir Gavin, who attended former Chancellor Mr Sunak's campaign launch this afternoon, defended his plan to tackle inflation before lowering taxes – a policy which contrasts markedly with many of the other candidates for leadership.
"Rishi is being very straight and very honest with people," Sir Gavin said.
"He wants to see tax come down and is committed to delivering that. He's been setting out his plans and is being very responsible in everything he does.
"He recognises that while he wants to reduce taxes, we also need to bring inflation down as well."
Mr Sunak is the current bookies favourite to succeed Boris Johnson, who he helped force out of Number 10 when he resigned from his Cabinet last week.
And Sir Gavin suggested he was building a strong base of support among MPs ahead of today's 6pm deadline for nominations.
He said: "What most MPs do is look at who is the best person to win the next election, and that person is clearly Rishi."
Sir Gavin's endorsement of Mr Sunak will raise eyebrows in some quarters, due to the pair having clashed when he was Education Secretary over issues including free school meals and schools funding.
While he has played key roles in the last two Tory leadership elections, Sir Gavin insists he has no official role on Mr Sunak's team.
In 2019 he managed the parliamentary leg of Boris Johnson's rise to Number 10, after which he was appointed Education Secretary.
He was also a campaign manager for Theresa May in 2016, becoming Chief Whip in her administration.
Other former Cabinet ministers supporting Mr Sunak include Grant Shapps, who dropped out of the leadership race this morning, and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab.
