Tories are braced for more blood on the carpet today as another hopeful is knocked out of the leadership race – with Liz Truss allies begging rivals to recognise the ‘reality’ they cannot win.
The results are due to be revealed at 3pm after another frenzied day at Westminster that saw the Foreign Secretary officially launch her campaign insisting she can be ‘trusted to deliver’ after taking on the EU over Brexit and Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.
In a dig at frontrunner Rishi Sunak she said she had been ‘loyal’ to Boris Johnson, and it was not the time for ‘business as usual economic management’.
She dodged questions on whether she was worried about the threat from Penny Mordaunt, who surged into a shock second place in the first round. But allies have taken the gloves off, branding the trade minister ‘untested’, ‘underwhelming’ and unable to ‘master detail’.
A crucial moment in the battle for No10 is looming, with momentum seemingly with Ms Mordaunt after she picked up support from 67 MPs compared to Mr Sunak’s 88, putting her well ahead of Ms Truss on 50 and in a strong position to make the final run-off ballot of Tory members. She has been installed as the bookies’ favourite after bombshell polling suggested that she would win head-to-heads against any of her rivals.
Ms Truss’s team have unveiled ministers Ed Argar, James Heappey and Tom Purseglove as new backers. They hope that Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch will be knocked out in rounds of voting today and early next week, and their backers will dramatically boost her numbers. One source said the rivals should ‘recognise the reality of the situation’.
Mr Sunak will hope to boost his tally over 100 in the latest ballot today, after being endorsed by the eliminated Jeremy Hunt, and virtually guarantee his place in the final two.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Sunak insisted he was the best option to defeat Labour at the next election – but again insisted taxes cannot be cut until inflation is under control.
Meanwhile, another contender Tom Tugendhat joked that he feels like a ‘Prom Queen’ because he is being wooed so fervently by other hopefuls.
As Ms Truss tries to claw back ground, her allies fired salvos at Ms Mordaunt this morning, with Lord Frost saying he asked for her to be sacked as his deputy and has ‘grave reservations’, while Treasury minister Simon Clarke swiped that the country ‘needs a leader who is tested and ready’.
One campaign source told MailOnline: ‘Just because Penny voted for Brexit doesn’t mean she can be trusted to deliver it. Her delivery record post-Brexit is incredibly underwhelming – can she be trusted to get things done?’
But Ms Truss said at her launch: ‘I certainly won’t be making any disparaging comments about my fellow candidates in the race.’
David Davis accused the Foreign Secretary of deploying the ‘dark arts’, while a source close to Ms Mordaunt told MailOnline: ‘Penny has nothing but respect for Lord Frost. He did a huge amount to assist our negotiations until he resigned from Government.
‘Penny will always fight for Brexit and always has.’
Ms Truss said at the event in Westminster that she is ‘ready to be prime minister from day one’.
‘We are at a critical moment for our country,’ she said. ‘Now is the time to be bold, we cannot have business-as-usual economic management, which has led to low growth for decades.’
To shouts of ‘hear, hear’, she said that it was time to deliver on Brexit and ‘win the fight for freedom, at home and abroad’.
Officially launching her campaign, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss appealed for Tories to unite behind her, saying she can be ‘trusted to deliver’ and can ‘hit the ground running’ after taking on the EU over Brexit and Vladimir Putin over Ukraine
Penny Mordaunt (right) performed better than expected in the first round. Mr Sunak (pictured left) will hope to boost his tally over 100 in the latest ballot today, after being endorsed by the eliminated Jeremy Hunt, and virtually guarantee his place in the final two
Ms Mordaunt seemed jubilant about her progress this morning, taking to Twitter to hail her ‘march’
Mr Sunak stubbornly refused to bow to demands for immediate tax cuts – offered by some of his opponents – pointing to the country’s debt mountain.
‘I think our number one economic priority is to tackle inflation and not make it worse. Inflation is the enemy, it makes everybody poorer, and if we don’t act to tackle inflation now it will cost families more in the long run, especially with mortgages,’ he said.
‘I will get taxes down in this Parliament, but I’m going to do so responsibly.
‘Because I don’t cut taxes to win elections, I win elections to cut taxes, and I’m convinced that I’m the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party at the next election.’
Mr Sunak also denied that his massive personal wealth meant he cannot understand the struggles of ordinary people.
‘I don’t judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character and I think people can judge me by my actions over the past couple of years,’ he said.
‘Whenever I have needed to step in to support people I have and furlough is a fantastic example of that.
‘But what I would say as a Conservative is I believe in hard work and aspiration and that’s my story and if I’m prime minister then I’ll be making the case for that with vigour.’
He dismissed claims of ‘dirty tricks’ being orchestrated by former chief whip Gavin Williamson on his behalf, stressing that Mel Stride has been running the parliamentary aspect of his campaign.
Asked what Sir Gavin’s role is, Mr Sunak said: ‘Like all the Members of Parliament who are on my team, they are talking to colleagues and making the case for my candidacy because they believe that I am the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party and I’m really grateful for all their support.’
Former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch and Attorney General Suella Braverman also made it through the first round, receiving 40 and 32 votes respectively.
And former Army officer Mr Tugendhat also made the cut with 37 votes as the standard bearer of moderates.
Only one of the 358 MPs did not cast a vote.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi was ejected from the contest after failing to reach the minimum threshold of 30 votes, but has indicated he will not be endorsing any candidate.
A maximum of three more rounds will be needed to whittle the field down to the last pair.
At a press conference this morning, Mr Tugendhat said he ‘feels like a prom queen’ because of rival candidates were wooing him for support – but insisted he will not quit.
Asked why he was staying in the race, the MP said: ‘Where will this go? I don’t know, I can’t tell you.
‘But I can tell you that a lot of people – a lot of people – are looking at the options before them today and thinking differently about the votes they made yesterday and that’s not surprising.’
At a press conference in Westminster he added: ‘I offered to serve, and that’s what I’ll do, and it’s up to others to decide whether or not they they wish to have me.
‘That’s, I’m afraid, how democracy works. But I don’t quit.’
Ms Mordaunt’s new status is bringing intense scrutiny and she is already facing questions, including on whether she had changed her ‘woke’ views on trans rights in order to win support.
An ally of Ms Truss accused Ms Mordaunt of ‘telling lies’ over her views. ‘She is turning up at hustings claiming she never pushed trans rights when she was equalities minister when there are people in government who know that is not true,’ said the ally.
‘She is telling lies and if she gets in she will revert to type and split the party.’
Former Brexit minister Lord Frost told TalkTV he was ‘surprised she is where she is in this leadership race.’
‘I have worked with Penny… She was my deputy, notionally more than really in the Brexit talks last year,’ he said.
‘I’m sorry to say this, that I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year.
‘She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary. And I’m afraid she wasn’t sort of fully accountable.
Lord Frost saying he asked for Penny Mordaunt to be sacked as his Brexit deputy and has ‘grave reservations’
A YouGov poll found the run-off margin for Penny Mordaunt against Rishi Sunak could be 67 per cent to 28 per cent, while the former Chancellor could lose 59 per cent to 25 per cent against Liz Truss
Minutes before MPs started voting in the first round of the leadership contest, YouGov research suggested Ms Mordaunt is the overwhelming favourite of activists
‘She wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. And I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months, I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her on and find somebody else to support me.’
Lord Frost said a PM needed to be ‘tough’ and ‘able to lead’, adding: ‘I’m talking only about my own experience with her, but on the basis of what I saw, I’m afraid I would have grave reservations about that.’
The result for Mr Sunak was considerably short of the thumping 114 votes Mr Johnson received in the first round of the 2019 contest – when there were fewer Tory MPs.
A YouGov poll found that Ms Mordaunt is the ‘clear favourite for next Conservative leader among party members’.
When Tory members were asked to choose their preferred, Ms Mordaunt convincingly topped the list with at 27 per cent of votes.
Ms Badenoch came a distant second at 15 per cent, followed by Mr Sunak and Ms Truss on 13 per cent each.
The survey also found Ms Mordaunt – who initially appeared an outsider – would defeat any competitor in a run off.
Her margin against Mr Sunak was projected to be 67 per cent to 28 per cent, while the he could lose 59 per cent to 25 per cent against Ms Truss.
However, separate research by Savanta ComRes tonight underlined the challenges Ms Mordaunt would face with the wider electorate. Just 11 per cent of the public and 16 per cent of Conservative voters could correctly identify her when shown a photo.
Mr Sunak also faced questions after failing to land the knockout blow his team had been expecting. While the former chancellor still looked on course to make the final run-off it was no longer clear that he would do so with a big mandate from fellow MPs.
Senior Tories have warned Ms Truss that to be confident of making the final run-off she must see off her rivals on the Tory Right.
Eurosceptic MPs were last night trying to persuade Mrs Braverman to withdraw.
One source said she faced ‘humiliation’ if she tried to continue.
But her team insisted she would battle on, with campaign manager Steve Baker saying: ‘We have not yet begun to fight. People underestimate Suella at their peril.’
Mrs Badenoch also showed no signs of backing down. One source on her campaign said: ‘She is going to do it.’
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing Ms Truss, last night urged fellow Brexiteers to unite behind her and warned that divisions could allow Miss Mordaunt to slip through.
Calling for a ‘unite the Right’ candidate, Sir Iain said: ‘If common sense played any part in these things, it would be over in 24 hours. But of course it doesn’t.’