Tory deputy chair resigns to back Robert Jenrick in Conservative leadership race
Conservative Party deputy chair Matthew Vickers has resigned from his role in order to back Robert Jenrick in the Conservative Party leadership contest.
Mr Vickers also serves as shadow policing minister, but does not need to stand back from this role to declare his support for a candidate.
However, Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) is remaining neutral in the contest, which is why Mr Vickers is standing down from his role there.
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He was first appointed to the deputy chairmanship in 2022 but has decided to stand down as he believes it is important to declare his support for the Newark MP.
The decision was made after he chaired a leadership hustings for northern Tory members.
All candidates except for Kemi Badenoch attended, as she was on holiday with her family.
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Mr Vickers said: “On Saturday, I chaired the northern hustings of the leadership contest.
“All the candidates were good, but Robert Jenrick was the standout. This process really matters – we have a mountain to climb and need a leader that can bring us back in one term. Having heard him up close, I firmly believe that that’s Robert.
“He had the clearest diagnosis of why we lost, and set out the most compelling vision for how we change, rebuild and win again.
“Of course, he is a strong communicator, but he crucially has the credibility we need to earn back the public’s trust.”
Mr Jenrick said: “It’s great to have the backing of such a well-respected Conservative campaigner and champion for levelling up in the North East.
“As we rebuild in opposition, we must return to our roots as a truly national party – of and for the entire country – mission-focussed on spreading opportunity to every corner of the UK.”
Mr Jenrick is one of six people running to replace Rishi Sunak. Pic: PA
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In previous leadership elections, Mr Vickers backed Rishi Sunak.
He is currently the MP for Stockton West, and was first elected to parliament in 2019 for the seat of Stockton South.
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According to a poll of 805 Tory party members carried out between 2 August and 12 August, James Cleverly is the most popular candidate to be the next party leader, with 26% supporting him.
He was followed by Dame Priti Patel on 20%, Ms Badenoch on 14%, Tom Tugendhat on 11%, Robert Jenrick on 10% and Mel Stride on 4% in the poll from Techne UK.
However, previous surveys have thrown up other results – and a consensus on a favourite has not emerged.
The current slate of six candidates will be narrowed down through votes among Tory MPs at the start of next month, until just four remain.
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They will take part in a “beauty contest” at the Conservative Party conference between 29 September and 2 October, with MPs voting again to whittle the contest down to two.
At this point, the whole Conservative membership will vote on the head to head, with a final winner to be declared on 2 November.
Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and head of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, reaffirmed the right to crypto self-custody and privacy in financial transactions.
“I’m a freedom maximalist,” Peirce told The Rollup podcast on Friday, while saying that self-custody of assets is a fundamental human right. She added:
“Why should I have to be forced to go through someone else to hold my assets? It baffles me that in this country, which is so premised on freedom, that would even be an issue — of course, people can hold their own assets.”
Peirce added that online financial privacy should be the standard. “It has become the presumption that if you want to keep your transactions private, you’re doing something wrong, but it should be exactly the opposite presumption,” she said.
The comments came as the Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill that includes provisions for self-custody, anti-money laundering(AML) regulations, and asset taxonomy, is delayed until 2026, according to Senator Tim Scott.
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Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) challenge Bitcoin’s self-custody ethos
Many large Bitcoin (BTC) whales and long-term holders are pivoting from self-custody to ETFs to reap the tax benefits and hassle-free management of owning crypto in an investment vehicle.
“We are witnessing the first decline in self-custodied Bitcoin in 15 years,” Dr. Martin Hiesboeck, the head of research at crypto exchange Uphold, said.
Hiesboeck attributed the shift to the SEC approving in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETFs in July, which allowed authorized holders to exchange crypto for ETF shares and vice versa without triggering a taxable event, unlike cash-settled ETFs.
“A move away from the self-custody mantra of ‘not your keys, not your coins’ is another nail in the coffin of the original crypto spirit,” Hiesboeck added.
In February, notable Bitcoin analyst and investor PlanB, the developer of the BTC stock-to-flow model, announced that he transferred his Bitcoin to ETFs to alleviate the “hassle” of private key management.
PlanB’s announcement caused an outcry in the Bitcoin community, as many voiced concerns that handing over custody to a third party clashed with Bitcoin’s core values.
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Jeremy Corbyn has declined to say his Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana is a friend as supporters of the new grouping gather in Liverpool.
Speaking to Sky News on the eve of the conference, Mr Corbyn acknowledged “stresses and strains” in the set-up of the party but said it had become “a lot better in the last few days and weeks and we’re going to get through this weekend”.
The former Labour leader has publicly clashed with Ms Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, over the launch and structure of the new party.
Asked if they were friends, Mr Corbyn said they were “colleagues in parliament, and we obviously communicate and so on”.
The pair appeared at separate events on the eve of the party’s inaugural gathering.
Ms Sultana had previously claimed she was being “sidelined” by a “sexist boys’ club” within the fledgling party.
Mr Corbyn said her comments were an “unfortunate choice of words” but added that he had been more involved in the organisation of the conference than she had.
The co-founders have had a strained relationship since setting up the party. Pic: Your Party
The Islington North MP also said that Your Party was still waiting for Ms Sultana to transfer all of the funds she had raised from supporters.
“Obviously having money up front for a conference is a big help,” he said.
Ms Sultana has insisted she is transferring the donations in stages.
The weekend gathering in Liverpool will see supporters choose between four options for a permanent party name: Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance, For the Many.
The preferred choice of Ms Sultana – The Left – did not make the ballot.
Similarly, the Coventry MP had said she favoured a co-leader approach, but members will only be able to pick between single leadership or collective leadership models.
Speaking at her own pre-conference rally, Ms Sultana blamed a “nameless, faceless bureaucrat” for restricting the choices.
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The meeting also risked being disrupted by a series of member expulsions. One of those ejected, Lewis Nielsen, accused a “clique” of trying to “take over”.
Your Party sources said expulsions related to members of the Socialist Workers Party and that holding another national party membership was not allowed.
Ms Sultana blamed a “culture of paranoia at the top” and said she believed the same people who had been briefing against her were now also expelling members.
Mr Corbyn will open the conference on Saturday, while the results of the main decision-making votes will be announced on Sunday.
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