Grant Shapps takes swipe at ‘distracted’ Boris Johnson as he launches Tory leadership bid

GRANT Shapps launched his Tory leadership bid last night and declared: “I’m the guy who can win the next general election.”

The Transport Secretary believes he has the perfect blend of experience and policy ideas to appeal to all wings of the party — and the wider voting public.

He will today enter the race with a pledge to cut taxes, spread prosperity to the regions, seize the benefits of Brexit and speed up access to health treatment.

Mr Shapps believes he is the only proven winner in the leadership line-up who can bring the “three Cs” – competence, campaigning and communication skills – to the heart of government.

In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, he said: “My message to MPs is simple. I can help you win. I will win your seat.

“I was party chairman for the two-year run-up to the 2015 election which they said we couldn’t win. But I did it by building a team.

“I’m a proven winner and I can do it again.”

Mr Shapps, 53, said his experience at all levels of government will bring a new mood of organisation and competence to Number 10.

And he believes his programme for power will appeal to voters in traditional Tory heartlands and those in the former Labour “Red Wall” areas who feel aggrieved at the toppling of Boris Johnson.

He said: “My top priority will be the cost of living and the fastest way to help is to cut taxes. There’s a cost to it but there’s also a gain.”

He revealed a couple of life-or-death experiences have shaped his attitude to life and politics.

The first came when he was just 20 and involved in a car crash on a road trip across America which left him in a coma for a week.

Weeks later as he was awaiting an operation he received a phone call from the travel firm asking where to send the bill.

“That was the American healthcare system,” he said. “And it taught me for the first time the value of the NHS.”

Ten years later, he went to the doctor with a persistent cough and after an X-ray he was told he had cancer. He went through a year of chemo and radiotherapy.

The minister, who has been clear of cancer since 2000, said: “Looking back, it has given me a sense of perspective.”

In April, Mr Shapps became the second MP to host a Ukrainian family in his Hertfordshire home as thousands of refugees fled the country.