Not only did Ms Mordaunt urge Britons to vote for Brexit, but she also played a small but momentous role in the campaign by warning that Turkish migrants would flock to Britain if their own country joined the European Union. Union, something she claimed Britain would do. unable to block. The statement was incorrect: Britain, like other members, had the right to veto Turkey’s membership.
Brexit supporters view her with suspicion for another reason: She voted for a fateful withdrawal agreement with the European Union that Prime Minister Theresa May had negotiated.
Ms. Mordaunt combines an interest in security and a military background with views on social issues that are slightly progressive by Tory standards. For example, she has spoken out for transgender rights, a position that has put her in trouble with the culture fighters on the right side of the party.
In an effort to defuse the matter, Ms Mordaunt said last week that transgender women “are not biological women like me, but the law recognizes them in their new gender and that is very simple and clear.”
In Tory politics, of course, that’s neither.
During a televised debate on Friday evening, Mr Mordaunt came under renewed pressure on the issue, with one of her opponents, Kemi Badenoch, questioning whether she had reconsidered her previous position. Critics said Ms Mordaunt’s performance was shaky and unfocused.
Analysts said the unsettled nature of the match had made it particularly brutal. Mr Sunak, the first frontrunner, has been attacked by Mr Johnson’s allies, who consider his resignation less than two weeks ago, which paved the way for the prime minister’s downfall, as treason. Mr Sunak’s tax policy as chancellor was criticized by Jacob Rees-Mogg, with whom he was still in cabinet a few days ago. Mr Rees-Mogg declined to deny reports that he described the policies, including tax hikes, as “socialist.”