Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who is among eight candidates in the first round of voting in today’s Tory leadership race, has said that if he becomes prime minister he will have a relentless focus on “delivery, delivery, delivery”. Speaking to Sky’s Kay Burley this morning, he said: “My team is confident. We’re meeting with colleagues and we had two fights last night. Another one after I leave the studio before voting starts normally at 1.30pm. “I have a record of delivery, I delivered the vaccine programme. “If I am prime minister, I will focus the government on delivery, delivery, delivery. We have two years to deliver to the people [before a general election – which suggests Mr Zahawi wouldn’t seek a personal mandate from the electorate any time soon] to show that we are on their side.” He added: “I’m the man who delivers and the next two years are going to be all about delivery. Our voters will judge us by what we deliver, if it’s vaccines in the past. Education, I’m building 50 schools a year and you’re going to build a hundred in the next two years”. As the race for the next Conservative leader heats up, Mr Zahawi has acknowledged that Rishi Sunak is the front-runner. However, he insisted he could still gain ground on his rival. “Colleagues will decide. There are many undeclared colleagues left. Rishi is ahead, no doubt. He is a very talented man, he would make a great prime minister,” he said.
