Theresa May attacks big business as she launches leadership campaign in Birmingham
Home Secretary Theresa May is in Birmingham for the national launch of her campaign to become Prime Minister
Jonathan WalkerPolitical Editor
Home Secretary Theresa May is launching her national leadership campaign in Birmingham
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Conservative leadership candidate Theresa May is launching her campaign to become Prime Minister in Birmingham - with a pledge to give workers a say in the management of businesses.
Mrs May, the Home Secretary, has chosen Birmingham to launch her national campaign after Conservative MPs at Westminster picked her and rival Andrea Leadsom, the energy minister, as the two hopefuls who will take part in a ballot of party members to choose the next Tory leader.
The winner will become Prime Minister, and Ms May will use a high profile speech in the city to criticise the way many big businesses are run, and set out plans to give workers representation on company boards.
She will argue that Britain today is an unjust society in which your chances of success are largely determined by the type of family you are born into. And she will say that many people struggle to pay their bills because they don't share in the benefits of a growing economy, warning: "If you're from a working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise."
But Mrs May will promise to make Britain "a country that works for everyone - not just the privileged few".
She will say: "I want to see changes in the way that big business is governed.
"The people who run big businesses are supposed to be accountable to outsiders, to non-executive directors, who are supposed to ask the difficult questions, think about the long-term and defend the interests of shareholders.
"In practice, they are drawn from the same, narrow social and professional circles as the executive team and - as we have seen time and time again - the scrutiny they provide is just not good enough.
"So if I'm Prime Minister, we're going to change that system - and we're going to have not just consumers represented on company boards, but workers as well."
Promising to get tough on corporate irresponsibility, she will set out plans to make it harder for top executives to receive massive payments which don't reflect their performance.
She will say: "We're the Conservative Party, and yes we're the party of enterprise, but that does not mean we should be prepared to accept that 'anything goes'.
"As part of the changes I want to make to corporate governance, I will make shareholder votes on corporate pay not just advisory but binding."
Politicians don't realise how hard life is for working people
Mrs May will warn that Britain today is an unjust society, saying: "Right now, if you're born poor, you will die on average nine years earlier than others.
"If you're black, you're treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you're white.
"If you're a white, working-class boy, you're less likely than anybody else to go to university.
"If you're at a state school, you're less likely to reach the top professions than if you're educated privately. If you're a woman, you still earn less than a man."
And she will say that politicians are out of touch with the problems facing many people.
"If you're from a working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise. You have a job, but you don't always have job security.
"You have your own home, but you worry about mortgage rates going up. You can just about manage, but you worry about the cost of living and the quality of the local school, because there's no other choice for you.
"These are the reasons why, under my leadership, the Conservative Party will put itself - completely, absolutely, unequivocally - at the service of working people. It is why we will make Britain a country that works for everyone."
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Conservative candidate Andrea Leadsom faces criticism
Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom
Andrea Leadsom is facing a "black-ops" campaign by MPs who want to "denigrate her reputation", key supporter Iain Duncan Smith has claimed.
Former Tory leader Mr Duncan Smith insisted both candidates are capable of becoming the next prime minister and called for the Conservative Party to show decency during the campaign.
Asked about reports that some MPs are prepared to quit the party if Mrs Leadsom become Prime Minister, he told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "I have a simple comment to them, which is calm down for God's sake, this is a leadership election and I think people come to regret some of the silliest things they say during a leadership election.
"I've seen it all before - the reality is that both of them are qualified.
"Look, if Andrea was so unqualified to be Prime Minister, and you know we've had a lot of sniping, a kind of real 'black-ops' operation to denigrate her reputation.
Mrs Leadsom endured a barrage of criticism after appearing to suggest that being a mother gave her an advantage over her childless rival.
Mrs Leadsom said she was "disgusted" by the way her comments had been presented and insisted that she believed "everyone has an equal stake in our society", stressing that she did not want the issue of children to be a feature of the campaign.
In an interview with The Times, Mrs Leadsom said: "Genuinely I feel that being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake."
The Home Secretary has previously spoken about how she and husband Philip were affected by being unable to have children.
Labour leadership campaign begins
Labour MP Angela Eagle is to stand against Jeremy Corbyn
Meanwhile, Labour is set to embark on a leadership contest of its own, as former Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle challenges party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The former shadow cabinet minister, who was the most senior MP to resign in the revolt against Mr Corbyn, said on Sunday that he is "not a leader" and accused him of "hiding behind a closed door" in denial of the chaos around him.
Speaking to ITV's Peston on Sunday, Ms Eagle said Mr Corbyn had not been able to "communicate with the electorate" and "he's now lost the confidence of the parliamentary party".
Mr Corbyn has vowed to resist the challenge, saying it would be "irresponsible" for him to quit, and threatened legal action if his name is not on the ballot in a leadership contest.
Owen Smith, another potential challenger, demanded emergency talks with Mr Corbyn and suggested the leader and his allies are prepared to split the party.
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