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Dominic Raab says leadership candidates should be able to "hold their nerve" in a TV debate.

The former Brexit secretary made it through the first round of the Tory leadership contest in fourth place with 27 votes and said he had a "strong base to build on".

But he said the candidates needed to have a "proper debate on the vision for the country".

He told the BBC: "There are a lot of candidates with a lot to offer but we are right at the beginning of this race.

"We haven’t really tested the visions, the ideas, the policies of all of the candidates, and I think the debates coming up… are a great opportunity to test the views.

"There is many a slip between a cup and the lip."

Mr Raab said the last leadership contest, that saw Theresa May take power, was a "very quick coronation", but "once the adrenaline of the first froth and frenzy of this contest ebbs a little bit [you can] have a proper contest on the substance and the vision".

And what would he say to anyone considering not taking part in the TV debates?

"If you can't hold your nerve and take the heat of a leadership contest, what chance [do you have] under the glare of the light in Brussels?"