Robert Jenrick says Rwanda was 'only reason' he clung on to Nottinghamshire seat

The Newark MP is standing to be the next Conservative Party leader

Robert Jenrick says the "only reason" he clung on to his Newark seat at the general election was because of his stand on the Rwanda bill. The 42-year-old faced off a strong campaign by Labour in July which saw him retain Newark with a vastly reduced majority.

As the only Conservative MP left in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, Mr Jenrick is now campaigning to succeed Rishi Sunak as the party's next leader. In a major speech setting out his stall at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday (October 2), Mr Jenrick spoke about his stance on the previous government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Mr Jenrick resigned over the issue, arguing the plan did not go far enough. Speaking about that decision on Wednesday, Mr Jenrick said: "You know that I loathe empty rhetoric, big words and empty action. You know that I will take a stand, you saw me take a stand last year and, frankly, it is the only reason why I won my seat of Newark at the general election against all the polls and the pundits.

"The only seat that our party won in the whole of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire." Mr Jenrick has come under fire during this week's Conservative Party conference after he alleged that the SAS was being forced to kill rather than capture terrorists because of the European Court of Human Rights.

His rivals said the comment suggested British troops were "murdering" people and not abiding by international law, but Mr Jenrick has defended the comments. The Newark MP was first elected following a by-election in 2014 and his roles in government have included serving as the housing secretary.

The MP's conference speech also saw him set out five changes that he believed were needed to launch a new Conservative Party. Mr Jenrick said: "If we are going to change this party, to restore the trust and the confidence of the people, if we're going to tackle together the immense challenges our country faces, we are going to have to build something new.

"Built on the rock of our proudest traditions and noblest values, but a new Conservative Party." Changes Mr Jenrick argued for included leaving the ECHR, repealing the Human Rights Act and freezing net migration.

The Newark MP also delivered personal attacks against senior Labour cabinet ministers, labelling chancellor Rachel Reeves "as wooden as Pinocchio" and energy secretary Ed Miliband as "a Wallace missing his Gromit." Conservative MPs will hold votes next week to whittle the four leadership candidates down to two, with the party's members then having a say and the winner being announced on November 2.