FOREST MP Mark Harper was quick out of the blocks in the race to be Prime Minister, as he was one of the first to confirm his nomination on Monday morning (June 10).

And he said it’s “time for a party, where everyone is invited!”

The former chief whip and immigration minister under David Cameron said he had enough support to join the race to be Conservative leader on Twitter on Monday, with a photo of himself and his proposer and seconder, Jackie Doyle-Price and Steve Double.

“Pleased to be officially nominated as a candidate for Leader of the @Conservatives – here with my Proposer @JackieDP and Seconder @SteveDouble.

“I look forward to setting out to my colleagues why I am #Trustedto lead,” he wrote.

Yesterday (Tuesday) he announced on Twitter: “Excited to launch my campaign today. It’s time for a party, where everyone is invited!”

The previous evening, in an interview on BBC2’s Newsnight, he said: “I’m the only person running in this contest who’s got Cabinet experience, but hasn’t been part of the team that has sat round the Cabinet table and shared in making the mistakes that have got us to where we are now.”

Interviewer Emily Maitlis said Mr Harper’s record in Cabinet was ‘not glittering’, saying he had failed to get through the House of Lords reform bill, had failed to hit the immigration target as immigration minister and been ‘sacked’ for employing an illegal immigrant as a cleaner, who had overstayed her visa.

But the Forest MP hit back, saying he had followed the law by making checks on the cleaner’s status, but had resigned, which showed he “took responsibility for it, which I think is the definition of leadership.”

Mr Harper, who admits he is an underdog in the race, with bookies quoting odds of more than 500-1, supported Remain during the referendum, but says he now accepts the result.

He has called for a “short, focused” extension to allow the deal to be renegotiated, but said he would be prepared to leave with no deal if that is not possible.

The MP says sticking to an undeliverable October 31 exit date could risk making Nigel Farage stronger.

On Newsnight, he cited his success in pushing through several bills, including the legislation for boundary changes and the AV referendum which the Tories won, and said he had “fixed” the personal independence system as Disabilities Minister, and pushed through the Conservative agenda after the 2015 election with “quite a modest majority” as Chief Whip.