The Tory leadership contest is heating up as more MPs officially launch their bid for the top job. 

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak launched his campaign with a slick video hitting out at Boris Johnson on Friday.

On Saturday, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch became the latest to throw her hat into the ring. 

The MP for Saffron Walden called Boris Johnson a "symptom of the problems we face, not the cause of them".

Announcing her leadership bid in The Times, she claimed she would support lower taxes to "boost growth and productivity, and accompanied by tight spending discipline”.

Other MPs have already begun declaring allegiances - including former minister Steve Baker who backed Attorney General Suella Braverman, despite previously saying he was seriously considering the job himself. 

MP for North East Derbyshire, Lee Rowley, said he was backing Ms Badenoch.

Further announcements are expected to come over the next week, including anticipated bids from foreign secretary Liz Truss and home secretary Priti Patel. 

Tory MPs Chloe Smith, Julian Knight and Jackie-Doyle Price expressed their support for Ms Truss, although she is yet to announce a campaign. 

Ms Smith said Ms Truss is “the right person to take our country forward”, while Mr Knight said she would “deliver on the promise we made to our voters”.

READ MORE: Labour surges ahead in polls as Tories dither over leadership race

Meanwhile, prominent Brexiteer Mr Baker said the Tory blog ConservativeHome “consistently put me in their top 10 for next prime minister, they sometimes put me in their top five”.

However, he has said his lack of Cabinet experience could make it "very difficult" to get support from colleagues. 

On Friday evening, he tweeted: “I considered standing for the leadership. My priorities were delivering against our manifesto with our mandate, cutting taxes and seeing through Brexit.

“Happily I no longer need to stand. @SuellaBraverman will deliver these priorities and more.”

Meanwhile, several MPs have come out in support of Mr Sunak who announced his campaign by stating: "Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country.”

Among them are  Commons Leader Mark Spencer, former Tory Party co-chairman Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Mark Harper, ex-ministers Liam Fox and Andrew Murrison, and MPs Sir Bob Neill and Paul Maynard.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak launches Tory leadership bid

Supporters have been sharing a link to his campaign website www.ready4rishi.com. 

A site with a slightly different name, www.readyforrishi.com, which redirects to the official campaign page, was set up in December 2021.

Mr Sunak’s team said domains are bought all the time, adding that they had been transferred a number of them.

Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, has already said he will be be putting his name forward.

More are expected in the coming days including Mr Sunak’s successor as chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, and Ms Truss.

The runner-up to Boris Johnson in 2019, Jeremy Hunt, is "virtually certain" to stand again, his allies suggested.

 

Elsewhere, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is tipped to be a front-runner should he mount his own campaign.