UK politics live: Fourth candidate enters Tory leadership race as Braverman ‘struggling’ to get support

Mel Stride has become the fourth Conservative MP to announce he is joining the race for the party’s leadership .

The former work and pensions secretary said he has been “fully nominated” as a candidate, joining Tom Tugendhat , James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick in the contest to replace Rishi Sunak as leader.

Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Priti Patel are also expected to put themselves forward before nominations close at 2.30pm on Monday.

But Ms Braverman is struggling to get the 10 MPs needed to put her on the ballot paper, The Independent understands.

Labour ‘s Rachel Reeves is expected to unveil a black hole in the public finances of around £20 billion , signalling that tax rises could be on the way.

The chancellor will on Monday set out the results of the spending audit she ordered Treasury officials to produce which show “the true scale of the damage the Conservatives have done to the public finances”.

Wes Streeting has also slammed the Tory legacy claiming that England’s health and social care watchdog is “not fit for purpose” after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report unveiled a “stunning failure”.