The row erupted after Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated last night and stated that she would support Mrs Truss, the Secretary of State. The more than 60 members of the ERG were told to follow suit to ensure there was a strong Brexiteer in the last two going to the members. But Express.co.uk has seen a 2019 message from Red Wall MP Lee Anderson, a supporter of Mrs Badenoch, denouncing the question and saying MPs should be free to make a decision.
The spat has been further fueled today by former Brexit minister Lord Frost, who urged Ms Badenoch to leave the race and support Ms Truss.
After ERG members were notified by Chairman Mark Francois Thursday evening to support Ms. Truss, Mr. Anderson hit back with a furious message.
He reported: “Sorry, but I didn’t realize this was a whipping group.
“I thought we were all freethinkers capable of forming our own opinion.
“An honest assessment of each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses would have been more credible.
“Having said that, I suspect colleagues will decide for themselves what is best for our party.
“Really disappointed in this Mark? [Francois] and I think the TV debates might tell a different story and show that this group is out of touch with public opinion.
“Personally, I disagree with releasing a statement like this, but if it has to be, it should have happened after the TV debates, otherwise we risk losing contact.”
Mr Francois did not respond, but a senior member of the ERG said that Mr Anderson and other ERG members who support Ms Badenoch and who have also complained have not appeared at meetings to fuel the process.
The source said: “Each candidate was interviewed for up to an hour each, we asked them all the same questions so we could compare apples to apples.
“The interviews were chaired by Sir Iain Duncan Smith as a former party leader and at the end we had a whole group meeting to discuss the conclusions.
“About 30 of our members came to that meeting and we decided that the two outstanding candidates in the race were Suella Braverman and Liz Truss.
“We agreed not to recommend any of them, but when one was eliminated, the rest would have to support the candidate who stayed in the race.”
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The source added: “When Suella was eliminated, Mark then executed the agreement to ask colleagues to support Liz.
“Those complaining now didn’t bother to attend that meeting and in most cases haven’t been there for a while.”
The division among hardcore Brexiteers over who to support in the late rounds of the contest is also reflected in an exclusive poll for Express.co.uk showing the country is evenly split between getting a “rising star” as prime minister or a “ministerial veteran”.
The Techne UK poll of 1,624 voters polled on Thursday (July 14) revealed the country is evenly split on the issue: 43 percent support “rising star” and 42 percent “ministerial veteran”.
However, in a positive development for Ms. Truss, key Tory voters are seeking a skilled presence with 60 percent of Conservative voters and 51 percent of Leave supporters.
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Ms Badenoch, a minister for communities, has taken on the rising star mantle, especially in her opposition to waking issues such as critical race theory.
Meanwhile, Ms Truss, who has held five cabinet positions and is currently Secretary of State, is the ‘ministerial veteran’.
Some in the ERG fear the inexperienced Ms. Badenoch is “a Gove front” because she is backed by Michael Gove and has privately accused him of trying to split the party’s rights.
The two are now the choice of the right-wing MPs who want to avoid a final runoff between former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Commerce Secretary Penny Mordaunt, who are seen as the conservative left.
This is despite the fact that both Mordaunt and Sunak supported Leave in 2016 when Ms. Truss was a Remainer.