The Foreign Secretary is said to have made the huge blunder when, after PMQs, she desperately sought support from colleagues in the tea room of the House of Commons. Ms Truss approached the unexpected member to ask them if they would support her bid to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, completely unaware that they were from a different political party.
A person with knowledge of the chilling encounter told Express.co.uk: “There was no chat or anything like that.
“She went right in for the leadership field.”
They added: “She clearly didn’t know her own parliamentary party or was just completely desperate.”
The Lib Dem is said to have been “embarrassed” by the approach, as they had to awkwardly explain to her that they were not a conservative.
A source close to Ms Truss tonight disputed the claims, describing them as “complete and utter nonsense”.
Tory MPs took part in MPs’ first vote tonight as they looked forward to taking on the top job.
Ms Truss, who is considered one of the favorites to win the election, received the support of just 50 of her colleagues.
It meant she finished in a distant third place, well behind Penny Mordaunt, who received 67 votes, and frontrunner Rishi Sunak, who was supported by 88 Conservative MPs.
An exclusive Express.co.uk poll conducted today by TechneUK suggested that Mr Sunak was also the public’s favorite to become the next Conservative leader, with support from 20 per cent of those polled.
Ms Truss and Ms Mordaunt were in second place with 11 percent support each.
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Conservative MPs take part in a number of votes to narrow hopeful leaders down to two finalists.
The two candidates with the most support from MPs are then put to the wider party, with Tory members given the chance to choose the eventual winner.
The 1922 Conservative Party committee, which organizes leadership elections, wants Johnson’s successor installed on September 5.
In addition to Mrs. Truss, Mr. Sunak, and Mrs. Mordaunt, only Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman remain in the match.
Health Selection Committee Chair Jeremy Hunt and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi were both eliminated tonight.
Candidates needed the support of at least 30 Conservative MPs to advance to the next round, but Mr Hunt was supported by just 18 of his colleagues, who got Mr Zahawi just 25 votes.
The next vote among MPs will take place tomorrow.
A threshold that MPs need to move forward has yet to be announced by the 1922 committee chair, Sir Graham Brady.