Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom have emphasised the need for the next prime minister to have backed Leave in the EU referendum, as they made pitches to become the next Conservative leader.
Mr Gove wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that the next leader needed to have"embraced the vision of independence".
Mrs Leadsom told the paper that it "would be odd" to appoint somebody who did not believe in leaving the EU.
But Theresa May said the government "cannot just be consumed by Brexit".
The home secretary, who campaigned to remain in the EU, has become the favourite to become the next leader after Boris Johnson pulled out of the contest.
The contest follows Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement he would stand down by the autumn, after the UK voted to leave the EU in the referendum. Mr Cameron had backed Remain.
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In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mrs Leadsom said: "The prime minister resigned because he didn't back leaving, he doesn't believe in it, so it would be odd to just appoint somebody who also didn't believe in it.
"I just don't think that would be right."
She said that if she was to become prime minister, there would be "absolutely zero risk" that Brexit would not happen.
The energy minister also said she wanted to emulate the leadership qualities of Lady Thatcher, who was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
She said: "As a person, she was always kind and courteous and as a leader she was steely and determined.
"I think that's an ideal combination - and I do like to think that's where I am."
'My confidence evaporated'
Mr Gove also said the next prime minister should be someone who had campaigned for Brexit.
"It is clear to me that the prime minister who takes charge of that process must be someone who embraced this vision of independence during the referendum," the justice secretary said.
"I also believe personally that the new prime minister should have experience at the top level of government and a track record of delivering change.
"Mr Gove also explained how his confidence in Boris Johnson - a leading Brexit campaigner who had initially been regarded as the favourite to replace Mr Cameron, but did not stand in the leadership contest - had "evaporated".
"That led me to make the difficult decision, at no little cost, to put friendships aside and act in the national interest."
Having "often" declared that he did not want to be prime minister, "I came to the uncomfortable conclusion that I was the person best qualified to deliver that change".
'Consumed by Brexit'
Former defence secretary Mr Fox, who also campaigned for Leave, also spoke to the Sunday Telegraph and said he would increase defence spending if he became leader of the party.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mrs May rejected the suggestion the next leader needed to have backed Brexit.
"The government cannot just be consumed by Brexit, there is so much more to do," she said.
And Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Crabb, in a joint interview with his running mate Sajid Javid in the Mail on Sunday, said he had more experience than Mrs Thatcher had when she became leader.
As of Friday evening, Mrs May had secured the backing of 96 of the party's 330 MPs in the leadership context, while Stephen Crabb had 22, Mrs Leadsom had 21, Mr Gove had 18 and Liam Fox had 10.
More than 160 MPs have yet to declare whom they will support.The candidates will take part in a series of ballots of the MPs, starting on Tuesday.The two most popular will then go on to a vote of the wider party membership, with the result due on 9 September.
source: http://www.bbc.com/
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