TOP Tories set out their stall today as the defeated party begins the process of choosing a new leader.

Former cabinet ministers Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly made speeches officially launching their campaigns, with Conservative MPs due to start whittling down the six contenders.

Culture warrior Ms Badenoch, who is regarded as the frontrunner, slammed the Labour government as “clueless, irresponsible and dishonest.”

And Mr Cleverly told the Tories that “we must unite if we want the British people to listen to us again.”

He added: “So when they are fed up, as they inevitably will be with [Prime Minister Sir Keir] Starmer’s inept, high tax, red tape-loving, big state, crony-filled government, they will look to us again to be the change that they want to see in this country.”

The Prime Minister responded to these broadsides by telling the Tories to apologise for the mess they had left the country in.

Mr Cleverly vowed to turn young people into capitalists and to revive the Rwanda deportation scheme, while Ms Badenoch denied she was either obsessed with culture wars or overly abrasive.

The other candidates are former home secretary Priti Patel, ex-chief whip Mel Stride, one-time immigration minister Robert Jenrick and ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat.

The 121 Tory MPs will reduce the list to four over the next week, with the survivors getting to make their pitch to the party conference at the end of the month.

The MPs will then vote again until there are just two names left to be submitted to the party’s membership.