Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat is calling for the reform of a human rights convention he says is preventing the deportation of “murderers and rapists”.

Speaking at a campaign launch today, the Tonbridge MP promised to put immigration high on his agenda and said if there was no way to modernise the outdated European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) then he would be happy to pull out of it entirely.

Answering questions from reporters at the Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, Mr Tugendhat said: “If it turns out that the treaty can't be reformed and I can't protect people from violent criminals, from murderers and rapists, then yes, we will leave the ECHR.”

He added: "To drive change we do need clear targets, otherwise there's always going to be another excuse, so under my leadership the maximum level of non-British net migration will be capped at 100,000 people per year.”

Mr Tugendhat leaned heavily on his experience as a soldier and as security minister, devoting a section of his speech to foreign affairs and saying he would set out a plan to spend 3% of GDP on defence.

He said: “The purpose of British foreign policy is to keep the British people safe and prosperous.”

Mr Tugendhat’s speech on Tuesday, the final launch event of the Conservative leadership contest, came just one day before the first round of voting by Tory MPs.

Fellow contenders to replace Rishi Sunak are Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, Mel Stride, James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel.

MPs will narrow the field of six candidates down to four ahead of the Conservative Party Conference at the end of September, after which MPs will further whittle down the hopefuls to just two.

Those two will then be voted on by Tory members, with the winner expected to be declared on November 2.