Theresa wrote the following article for The Times outlining the launch of her campaign on 30 June:
Today I will launch my campaign to become the Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. And I do so for three clear reasons.
First, following last week’s referendum, our country needs strong, proven leadership - to steer us through this period of economic and political uncertainty, and to negotiate the best possible terms as we leave the European Union.
Second, we need leadership that can unite our Party and our country. With the Labour Party tearing itself to pieces, and divisive nationalists in Scotland and Wales, it is the patriotic duty of the Conservative Party to unite and govern in the best interests of the whole country.
And third, we need a bold, new, positive vision for the future of our country - a vision of a country that works not for a privileged few but for everyone, regardless of who they are and regardless of where they’re from.
The evidence of this need has been known to us for a long time. If you’re born poor in today’s Britain, you will die on average nine years earlier than others. If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white. If you’re a white, working-class boy, you’re less likely than anybody else in Britain to go to university.
If you’re at a state school, you’re less likely to reach the top professions than if you’re educated privately. If you’re a woman, you still earn less than a man. If you suffer from mental health problems, there’s too often not enough help to hand. If you’re young, you’ll find it harder than ever before to own your own home. These are all burning injustices, and I am determined to fight against them.
But the mission to make Britain a country that works for everyone goes further than fighting these injustices. If you’re from an ordinary, working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise. You have a job, but you don’t always have job security. You have your own home, but you worry about mortgage rates going up. You can just about manage, but you worry about the cost of living and the quality of the local school - because there’s no other choice for you.
Frankly, not everybody in Westminster understands what it’s like to live like this. And those people need to know that what the Government does isn’t a game: it is a serious business that has real consequences for people’s lives.
So over the course of this campaign, I will be making speeches, writing articles and arguing in favour of a new and radical programme of social reform. This programme - true to my Party’s proud philosophical tradition of One Nation - will include big changes to the way we think about our economy, our society and our democracy.
We believe in capitalism and free markets, for example, because history has shown them to be the best way in which we spread opportunity and improve social mobility. But that does not mean that capitalism, regardless of its form, is always perfect. Where it is not helping to provide opportunity for all, where it is losing public support, where there are gross abuses of power, we need to reform it.
And we need to think differently about the role of the state. Instead of thinking of it always as the problem, we should acknowledge that often it is only the state that can provide solutions to the problems we face. So yes, the state needs to be small, but it needs to be strong, particularly when it comes to national security, and it needs to be strategic, particularly when it comes to taking the economy in the right direction.
We have to be clear that there is more to life - and more to Conservatism - than individualism. We have to cherish not just our older institutions but those that are younger too, like the BBC and the NHS. And we have to restore one of the oldest principles of Conservative philosophy - the contract between the generations - so that young people get a fair crack of the whip.
And we need to contemplate not just changes to the way we think about our economy, our society and our democracy, but to the Conservative Party itself - because we can’t build a country that works for everybody unless we are truly a Party that works for everybody.
This is the kind of Conservatism I’ve always believed in and always stood for. And it is the kind of change I have always worked hard to make happen. As Chairman of the Conservative Party, I was among the first to say we needed to change, to become more open, inclusive and representative of modern Britain. As a Member of Parliament, I played a part in helping more female Conservatives get elected into the House of Commons than ever before.
As Home Secretary, I haven’t only overseen a fall in crime to its lowest recorded level, I have made it my mission to tackle injustice wherever I have found it. From Stephen Lawrence to Hillsborough, where there has been evidence of police corruption, I’ve exposed it. I’ve cut stop and search to its lowest ever level. I introduced the first ever Modern Slavery Act. Under huge pressure from the United States, I blocked the extradition of Gary McKinnon. And when I was told I couldn’t deport Abu Qatada, I flew to Jordan and negotiated the treaty that got him out of Britain for good.
Under my leadership, the motives of the Conservative Party will never be in any doubt. And our actions will be bold. We, the Conservatives, will put ourselves at the service of ordinary, working people and we will strive to make Britain a country that works for everyone - regardless of who they are and regardless of where they’re from.
