Former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick is giving a speech as part of his campaign to lead the Conservative Party.

Before he spoke, former common sense minister Esther McVey introduced him.

She repeatedly highlighted Labour’s “betrayal” of various groups like pensioners and young people – before praising Mr Jenrick’s ability to communicate and speak in public.

Arriving on stage, Mr Jenrick praises those who helped him keep his seat during the general election campaign, before saying he wants to breathe “new life” into the party.

This includes having members choose candidates for elections, and becoming a “mass membership” party.

Mr Jenrick says he believes young people can be convinced to be Conservatives – but this requires being pro-housebuilding.

He says that, during the campaign, he will tell the party some “hard truths”, before praising the Cameron era for reforming schools and managing the public finances.

Mr Jenrick also praises Boris Johnson for getting Brexit “done”.

He says the Tories lost the election because they broke a promise to the general public to bring down migration – and says that is why he resigned from cabinet last year.

As a Home Office minister, Mr Jenrick was not a full member of the cabinet.

He says he wants to embrace the levelling up agenda, and to get public services working well again – criticising money being poured into things like the NHS with no improvement.

Mr Jenrick says a fear of Labour attacking their intentions meant the Tory government did not take the difficult choices needed.

He quips that the “lions” on the front line were let down by the “donkeys” in the back office.

On migration, the former Home Office minister says the state failed to secure the country’s borders, and that high rates of migration were not good for the economy – and he concluded the system was contributing to the UK’s “national decline”.

He says the party has to change “a lot” to win, and win back voters who they lost to both sides.

Mr Jenrick says the Conservatives need to change alongside the “best traditions and values” of the party – including generosity of spirit, respecting institutions and one another, and a yearning for national unity not division. 

He concludes by saying he believes the Tories can win the next election.