Four further candidates have joined the increasingly crowded field of Conservatives vying to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister.
The Conservative Party will set out the exact rules and timetable for the contest next week, after Mr Johnson was forced to quit by his own party. Many MPs are pushing for a fast-tracked process.
On Saturday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, and former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid became the latest Conservative MPs to officially declare they were putting themselves forward for the leadership.
So far there are eight official contenders, with at least two more still expected to join the race.
The Mail on Sunday said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would launch her campaign on Monday with a promise to cut taxes and tackle the cost-of-living crisis, while one of her main rivals for the role, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, ruled himself out.
Several other candidates also promised tax cuts, putting them at odds with the bookmakers' favourite, former finance minister Rishi Sunak.
Mr Sunak's budget last year put Britain on course for its biggest tax burden since the 1950s.
"My aim is a simple one: to provide the opportunities that were afforded to my generation, to all Britons, whoever you are and wherever you come from. To steady the ship and to stabilise the economy," Sky News quoted Mr Zahawi, who was appointed finance minister by Mr Johnson on Tuesday after Mr Sunak resigned, as saying.
Mr Shapps told the Sunday Times he was ruling out holding a national election if successful, but would produce an emergency budget within his first 100 days that would cut taxes for the most vulnerable and give state support to firms with high levels of energy consumption.
Mr Hunt, a former foreign secretary and health minister who lost out to Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership race, and Mr Javid, a former finance and health minister, both said as leader they would cut corporation tax to 15 per cent.
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