Mel Stride Enters Conservative Leadership Race

Mel Stride, former Work and Pensions Secretary, will announce his candidacy for the Conservative leadership race, aiming to replace Rishi Sunak. Stride has secured the necessary backing from MPs. The party will finalize its new leader on Nov. 2, following a multi-stage selection process.

Mel Stride, Britain's former Work and Pensions Secretary, is poised to announce his candidacy for the Conservative Party leadership race on Friday, according to a BBC report. Stride, the MP for Central Devon, has already garnered the backing of the required 10 MPs to advance to the next stage of the competition.

As of now, Stride has not responded to requests for comments made outside of regular business hours. The Conservative Party is on a timeline to declare its new leader by November 2, following its worst-ever election performance.

The leadership contest will initially narrow the field to four candidates, who will present their agendas at the Conservative Party conference. Following this, the nominations will be whittled down to two final candidates, from which party members will cast their votes. Stride's announcement comes shortly after former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and former Security Minister Tom Tugendhat declared their intentions to run for leadership earlier this week.