BOJO a go go
Boris Johnson sets out his stall for No10 as he launches leadership campaign with schools cash pledge
BORIS Johnson today launched his official leadership campaign - insisting he's the only candidate who can win voters back to the Tories.
The former Foreign Secretary also pledged to spend at least £5,000 on every secondary school pupil in England if he becomes Prime Minister.
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This morning he released a video, filmed on the campaign trail in Peterborough, which showed him canvassing voters ahead of the by-election there.
He spoke to several members of the public who claimed they would be more likely to vote Tory if Boris became the leader.
And he delivered a message of unity - pledging to bring the divided Conservative party back together after years of bitter feuding over Brexit.
As well as promising to take Britain out of the EU at last, he made an appeal to centrist MPs by promising to protect the environment and spend more on public services.
Speaking to camera, BoJo concluded: "If there is one lesson from that referendum in 2016, it is that too many people feel left behind - that they're not able to take part fully in the opportunities and success of our country.
"That's why now is the time to unite our society and unite our country. To build the infrastructure, to invest in education, to improve the environment and support our NHS.
"Now is the time to believe in ourselves and what we can do, and that's why I am standing to be leader of the Conservative party."
SCHOOL SPEND
Setting out his first domestic policy of his leadership campaign the Brexiteer said he would reverse the last decade of Tory cuts to school budgets and “significantly” increase spending.
In a damning assessment of David Cameron and Theresa May’s record he will vow to close the “growing gulf” in funding between the South East and other regions.
It is also a dig at his nemesis Michael Gove, who oversaw the Conservative’s radical reforms and spending cuts to education in the Coalition government.
How does the Tory leadership election work?
THERESA May will stand down as party leader this Friday, marking the official start of the race to replace her.
The outgoing PM will stay in No10 for a few more weeks while the new leader is being chosen.
The leadership contest, overseen by party chairman Brandon Lewis, will take around six weeks and conclude in late July.
Any Tory MP can enter the race, and the list of contenders is then whittled down by the parliamentary party.
MPs vote in multiple rounds, eliminating one candidate each time until just two are left.
With at least 13 candidates on the ballot, it could take a couple of weeks to get through the rounds - although contenders who perform poorly early on may drop out.
The party's 160,000 activists then choose between the final shortlist of two, with the winner declared leader and Prime Minister.
When Mrs May became leader, she didn't have to submit to a vote of members because Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the race.
So the last time activists have had a say on the leadership was 2005, when David Cameron defeated David Davis.
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According to the Daily Telegraph Boris’s policy would see per pupil funding rise by £200 each – to £5,000.
Writing in his weekly newspaper column the former Foreign Secretary says: “It is simply not sustainable that funding per pupil should be £6,800 in parts of London and £4,200 in some other parts of the country.
“Of course there are special and extra costs of living in the capital, and London schools deserve that recognition. But I pledge to reverse the cuts in per pupil funding, so that thousands of schools get much more per pupil.”
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