CONSERVATIVE leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt said his colleague Esther McVey would be deputy prime minister if he were to become prime minister.

Mr Hunt likened Tatton MP Esther McVey, who is married to Shipley MP Philip Davies, to John Prescott as Tony Blair’s deputy when he made the announcement on BBC’s Sunday Morning.

He said: “I also recognise that the leader of a political party has to win elections, and that means a broad appeal, so just as Tony Blair had John Prescott to broaden his appeal as his deputy prime minister, I will have Esther McVey as my deputy prime minister.

“She has won a lot of elections against Labour in the north, I have won them against Lib Dems in the south and I think we will be a formidable campaigning team.”

Mr Hunt was one of four MPs who joined the Tory leadership bid on Saturday and today Penny Mordaunt declared for the race, which now includes Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Nadhim Zahawi, Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat.